Lavery II

May 26, 1996 to December 30, 2006

Paired with Carol L. Gebharadt, and graduated from CCI (Canine Companions for Independence) Team Training as a hearing assistance dog, May 17, 1997

For the past 9 ½ years, I have been assisted and accompanied by a gorgeous, athletic golden retriever, Lavery II, who recently succumbed to cancer. He kept up with me faithfully and dutifully throughout numerous job changes and household moves, lots of travel (planes, trains, automobiles, and buses too), was the first “service” dog to tour the NASA facilities in Florida, and enjoyed himself immensely at Disney World, especially the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the “Haunted Mansion” rides. He met and conquered every challenge of my extremely active lifestyle as a runner and fitness enthusiast. Lavery also successfully overcame two earlier episodes of cancer, albeit different cancers than the two concurrent ones that took his life. He was an inspiration to me with I personally had to beat cancer. In Lavery’s later years, he swam exuberantly every week for his joint health and exercise. His favorite foods, on the sly of course, were peanut butter cookies, ice cream and pizza.

Lavery is sorely missed; his passing has left a huge void in my life. In fact, in his career as a CCI hearing dog, Lavery touched many, many people in many, many places. What a great, gracious and gregarious dog he was!