Moto the Therapy Dog

I've felt for awhile that Moto has a different calling than that Obedience Champion; like Shiloh he will do it for me because he's a good boy but there is another talent that he has and something else that he really likes to do. Because of his gentle empathetic nature I believe that is the Therapy Dog. You know, the one that goes to hospitals and lets people hug and pet him. My friend Dee came up to me and suggested the Therapy Dog role as well. See, her tiny teacup poodle puppy decided to visit Moto and stuck her head through the crate wire. She got stuck. What could have been an awful situation was handled beautifully by Moto. He backed away from the panicking puppy and looked very concerned until Dee freed her. Then he insisted on licking her face so she would feel better.
We continue to make progress in Obedience and I am now enjoying our training sessions. With Moto it works best to have a lot of 5-minute sessions instead of one big one. And for once, not training daily also seems to help. He's coming along nicely.
But Moto's true calling came into play yesterday. My daughter was hospitalized as her pregnancy has taken a very dangerous turn. There is a cyst on the umbilical cord that is causing it to slowly break away from the baby. "Ella" (the unborn baby girl) is only 2 pounds. So she is constantly being monitored and once they determine she is not getting any blood flow an emergency C-section will take place. The outcome for baby Ella is uncertain.
This is devastating and frightening news, heightened by the fact my daughter is in Arizona and I'm out here in Missouri feeling helpless. I await "the phone call" where I need to drop everything and grab the first plane to Arizona, which could be any day. After the scary news was delivered to me my hubby of course was very supportive. That supportive hug brought on tears. Moto quietly came over and just sat next to me, looking up with big concerned eyes. I realized he was offering his body for solace and I hugged his big furry self and buried my head in his ruff. He then gave some big serious wet licks to my face.
He is so much like Dusty that way: Dusty will come over and lay down in such a way that there doesn't seem to be a single of molecule of air that can separate him from me. It's as if they know we need a strong quiet dog to hug and hold and they offer themselves up for that.
Moto doesn't (yet) have the certification to be a therapy dog. It is something I will be looking into in the future. But as with the car accident, with this recent turn of events Moto has risen to his calling and is MY therapy dog. It's been said every dog comes into our lives for a reason, and I think that is why Moto is here with me. And I'm sure glad he is.