Or maybe it's just the sound of your son giggling when he
catches you cheating again in a game of cards.
For Jeannine Rash, that one "small" thing that kept
her going was an 8-pound dog named Gidget.
Rash looked down at her "little girl" when she said
this, and the tiny papillon looked back — as if she knew
what everybody was talking about. Gidget panted, she wagged
her tail, she stuck her tongue out.
"She's what got me through," Rash said.
Eight years ago, a car accident left Rash unable to move her
neck. In near constant pain, she did little but survive for
three years. She slept — when she could. She ate — when
she could.
Even after she recovered from whiplash, she was in near-constant
pain. Doctors later diagnosed her with fibromyalgia syndrome,
a disorder marked by muscle, ligament and tendon pain.
Rash was in near-constant pain.
A former painter, Rash didn't have the patience or strength
to pick up a brush.
The one thing she wanted to do was train Gidget.
The first session lasted slightly longer than a commercial
break — five minutes, maybe. But it grew from there.
Rash made her way back. Slowly.
She returned to shows and started teaching obedience classes.
Rash is one of hundreds of owners expected to attend Sunday's
36th annual All-Breed Dog Show and Obedience Trial at the York
Expo Center.
She still struggles with pain. Sometimes she can't sleep.
Other days it's pain in her arms or back.
But she manages. And she always — always — keeps
her dogs close.
There's Gidget and "her baby boy" Jeffrey, a 4-year-old
papillon. The dogs are all hair and ears, but once training
starts they are a blur of fur — leaping over bar jumps
and walking at Rash's side to perform figure eights.
Rash smiles through all of this, only admitting later that
she hurts all over.
There's not a lot of money to be made in weekend dog events,
but it was her hobby. And she was addicted.
Attracted to the obedience portion of dog shows, rather than
the beauty portion of breed judging, it took years of work
to get to this point.
At shows, Rash's dogs compete against all types of other breeds,
so there is a learning curve. The tiny dogs need to adjust
to competing against bigger breeds that can sometimes weigh
more than 10 times as much as the papillons.
But Jeffrey and Gidget scamper with the slightest flick of
Rash's hand or any voice command. Rash isn't your average,
toss-the-ball-in-the-park dog lover.
She brushes her dogs' teeth every night with a special poultry-flavored
toothpaste. She takes her dogs for massages once a week. She
takes them to the chiropractor once a month.
Rash has devoted her life to training dogs. She and her husband,
Keith, recently finished construction on a dog training academy
located a short walk from their house in Red Lion. The academy
walls are covered with blue ribbons and 8x10 glossy photographs
of grinning dogs and trophies.
There are quite a few, more than 30, but Rash apologizes.
She just opened the building a few months ago, and there hasn't
been enough time to display the rest of her ribbons.
But she's back on her feet, trying not to think about the
pain.
And she's doing what she loves — training her dogs.
JIM SEIP - ydr.com
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