Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Every dog owner thinks their dog is awesome, but Donna Dombek knows for sure that her dog, Ellie, is amazing.
That’s because Ellie is a certified therapy dog and has earned the highest level possible with the American Kennel Club – Elite Performer – as a trick dog.
Last week, Dombek and Ellie visited Linwood Community Library and Durbin Community Library for a special reading hour where they, well Dombek, read a couple of dog-related books to the crowd and answered questions, while Ellie performed a few tricks.
When it comes to the tricks Ellie has learned, Dombek said it sometimes takes her longer to figure out how to teach them than it does for Ellie to actually learn them. She has quite a few tricks up her doggy sleeve – from the easy sit, stay and roll over to the more complex tricks that actually include several smaller tricks, such as fetch and dunk the basketball.
“The simpler ones, I’d show her once or twice and she’d have it,” Dombek said. “She’s pretty amazing.”
Ellie’s life didn’t begin amazing though. She was born at the home of a beagle breeder who relinquished her litter to a rescue in Kentucky. She was taken to New York by Empire Animal Rescue Society, or EARS, and that’s where Dombek met her and adopted her.
“She has been in school since I got her at about age fourteen weeks,” Dombek said. “She tested to be a therapy dog at about eighteen months and we went through a lot of training.”
Dombek said her husband, Andy, took Ellie through the Puppy Stars and Canine Good Citizen classes because she was the one teaching them. From there, she went through the therapy dog prep class, which Dombek was sure Ellie failed.
While Ellie did exactly what she needed to for the test – sit, stay, sit up, etc. – she didn’t do it for the right length of time. Dombek explained that Ellie would follow the command but wouldn’t wait for her to release her from the command.
The woman administering the test came over to Ellie in a wheelchair to test how she would be around someone with a wheelchair. She commanded Ellie to raise up on her lap and Ellie eagerly obliged, showing a great deal of affection to the lady.
At the end of the training, Dombek said she approached the test lady with a worried look and the woman asked why.
“I was like, ‘I know we didn’t pass,’ and she said, ‘you passed,’” Dombek recalled. “The lady said she did everything she was supposed to do, she just didn’t do it for as long as you asked her to do and she’s a beagle. It’s the breed. They’re kind of stubborn and headstrong. She said, ‘what I was looking at was temperament more than anything. Obedience is important, but temperament is what really matters.’ She said, ‘she’s got the perfect temperament to be a therapy dog.’”
Ellie not only performed several tricks for those in attendance at the libraries, she also showed affection and her ability to read people’s emotions. She was very attentive to everyone – from the youngsters who were eager to play with her, to the adults who were just as eager to get her attention.
Now eight-years-old, Ellie continues to wow crowds with her talents, as well as serve as a therapy dog for those who need her sympathy and understanding.
Dombek said she piloted a program with Ellie prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in which therapy dogs were allowed into the juvenile courts. The dogs helped nervous juvenile offenders during their court hearings and Dombek said the judge was very supportive of the program and noticed that the dogs did make a difference.
Unfortunately, the program was halted during the pandemic and has yet to be reinstated.
In the meantime, Ellie and Dombek continue to spread awareness about therapy dogs and trick dogs with their unique and truly amazing program.
