Animals We Love – Spring 2013 cover story

“
The Brown Hound Bistro was named for
my loyal hound dog, Henry, my ‘partner
in crime’ for 10 great, adventurous
years. I like to joke that he has outlasted
all my boyfriends, so he got top billing!
Henry’s since passed, but as I like to
say, ‘Home is where your hound is.’ So
Daisy, from a farm in Penn Yan, and
Lily, a rescue from Tennessee, along
with my tiger cat, Dice, make up the
menagerie at my cabin on the hill. Daisy
and Lily can often be spotted in the
big mobile doghouse (my car) while I
do my errands. Wherever we are, my
dogs make me feel safer, their unique
personalities entertain me and their
sweet, nonjudgmental dispositions are
always a comfort if I’ve had a tough
day—or even if I haven’t.”
Trish Aser (with Daisy)
owner of the Brown Hound Bistro
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coverstory
When we set out to find people who loved animals, we didn’t have
to search hard. We heard story after story of how the animal
members of our families make a difference in our lives.
Meet the pets who have changed people’s lives.
we love
Animals
Story by Marci Diehl and Nancy McCarthy | Photos by Matt Wittmeyer
Cutting-edge care
These days, a trip to the vet might
just include acupuncture needles or a
chiropractic adjustment.
As people explore such
complementary treatments for
themselves, they’re thinking of their
pets as well. And that says a lot about
how we view our animals today,
says horse and cat owner Ed Varno:
“They’re our pets and part of the
family.”
Chiropractic treatment of large
animals actually dates back to the early
1900s, and many local horse owners
use veterinary chiropractors. Dogs
benefit from it as well.
No, you don’t get a horse to lie
down on a chiropractor’s table. Yet
treating a pet is not so different from
treating people, says Mike Priestman, a
Canandaigua chiropractor who is also
licensed as a veterinary chiropractor.
“The structure of all mammals is very
similar,” Priestman explains. “Whether
you’re a human or cat, you have the
same number of vertebrae in your
neck.”
Priestman’s human patients are
used to his own laid-back “office
dog,” Jersey, who sometimes sits in on
appointments.
Two local veterinarians—Bruce
Campbell, DVM at Finger Lakes
Animal Hospital in Canandaigua,
and Karen Oros, DVM at Macedon
Veterinary Hospital—sometimes use
acupuncture treatments for their
patients. They’ve found it especially
useful for treating hip dysplasia, disk
problems, skin ailments and digestive
issues.
Canandaigua also has one of only
a few animal compounding pharmacies
in the country. The Animal Pharmacy
can customize medications to cater to
the size, weight, precise dosage and
even flavor preference of the animal
(for anyone who has ever tried to serve
up a bitter pill to a cat, for example).
Or the pharmacists can formulate
medicines into a lotion that can be
rubbed into a cat’s ear to be absorbed
through the skin. They make medicine
“chewy treats” and pastes in petfriendly flavors such as liver and tuna.
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The Animal Pharmacy has
some interesting clients, from
Rochester’s Seneca Park Zoo
to a snake farm in Vietnam
that produces anti-venom. A
bacterial infection had spread
in their snake pit, so animal
pharmacist Kim Tenreiro,
founder of the Animal
Pharmacy, figured out a way
to create a medicine to spray
over the snakes, penetrating
their skin.
Because stuffing a pill
down a cobra’s throat was not a
good option.
Patricia Garrett rides at a show in Florida.
– M.D.
Bowwow boom
If you didn’t notice the sign for
Boom Towne Canine Campus in
Farmington, you might mistake the
facility for an airplane hangar. No jets
here, though—this is the spot for those
who love to train, exercise, pamper,
socialize, shop and care for the doggy
members of their families.
Boom Towne’s 8.5 acres of land
include its 23,000-square-foot main
building and a fenced dog park.
Customers come here for boarding,
training, grooming and day care services.
Owners Richard and Margaret
(Somerset) McCarthy bought the center
a couple of years ago from the original
owner. Their approach is working; as
general manager Sarah Smith says, “We
need another building.”
Training is a key part of the center’s
work, focusing on “what’s best for the
dog, and not what’s fastest for us or what
makes us feel more powerful,” says Paula
Lightfoote, director of training. “It’s a
philosophy of positive reinforcement.
There are no choke, prong or shock
collars used.”
Puppies can come to Puppy Head
Start day care (and their owners can
watch them via live webcams) or get
some education at the Puppy Pre-K
socialization class. Canine athletes get
moving in classes, agility training and the
irresistible sport of flyball—a relay race
with hurdles and tennis balls for teams
of dogs. (Boom Towne’s team is called
2 Fast Fur You.) Boom Towne hosts
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regional and national competitive sport
and breed trials in its training area.
But perhaps you want a gentler
bonding experience. Consider the Canine
Freestyle Dancing class, which teaches
you how to dance with your dog. Recent
additions to the roster are classes in Nose
Work (scent detection) and weight pulling.
The center also works with rescue
groups to help rescue dogs make
the transition to new homes. In the
summer, things get even busier, with
bring-your-dog birthday parties, Camp
WannaWalkaDog, a Hike With Your Dog
club, and dogs splashing in wading pools
in the dog park.
Yes, it’s a dog’s life. Lucky them.
– M.D.
The family that
rides together
Emma Garrett sits astride Lena, a
Westphalian hunter warmblood, and
guides the mare to take a 3-foot jump
in the indoor training arena at Blumont
Stables in Victor. At 5 feet tall, Emma
has outgrown ponies and moved up to
competition horses.
Up in the observation deck,
Emma’s grandfather, Roger Garrett,
and his daughter, Patricia Garrett, watch
Emma below. A visit to the stables is a
commitment: They spend one to two
hours grooming and bathing the horses,
washing their hooves, putting on saddle
and tack. After exercise or a lesson, it’s
another few hours settling the horses back
in their stalls, cleaning tack and nuzzling a
bit before calling it a night.
“When you own and
ride a horse, you have a
friendship,” says Emma,
an eighth-grader at Victor
Middle School. “You
connect on a different
level. You control a oneton animal with your mind,
hands and legs. You have to
connect, or it just doesn’t
work. But once you do, it’s
amazing.”
Patricia Garrett, a
freshman at the Harley
School, rides five to six days
a week and shows her horse,
Bordeaux. She has been riding since
she was 9 and, working with Blumont’s
owner/trainer Kristen Montevecchio, has
moved into equitation, where the courses
are more technical.
Such competition forges unique
bonds. “Bordeaux is a pet and a
teammate,” Patricia explains. “You don’t
want to let half of the team down.”
Roger Garrett is the horseman in the
family—wife Kitty Van Bortel, Patricia’s
mom, doesn’t ride. But both Garrett and
Van Bortel share transportation duties
to the barn and as far away as Florida for
shows.
Garrett grew up on a farm, and the
family had draft horses. Later, as an adult,
he bred and trained racehorses at Finger
Lakes racetrack. Now, Garrett jokes, “I’m
a horse parent.”
And it’s a hobby that suits all ages.
Debbie Barmaster, owner/trainer at
Running Brook in Bloomfield, sees many
women taking up riding as adults. “We
give a lot of adult women lessons in the
morning or early afternoon while their
kids are in school,” Barmaster says.
The Garrett girls say they’ll always be
“barn girls.” Emma is “very interested in
horse psychology. You have to build trust,
put yourself in the horse’s mind.” And
Patricia says riding “is definitely what I
want for the rest of my life.”
– M.D.
World travel on horseback
Ed Varno never had pets growing
up and had never been on a horse. Then
Vanessa Waters came into his life—along
with her horses—and the adventure
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Ed Varno had never ridden a horse until award-winning equestrian Vanessa Waters came into his life. Now the couple rides all over the world.
began. It took them on horseback across
the United States, to Canada, to national
parks out West, and to Europe and Asia.
In the 1990s, Waters was a wellknown competitive horsewoman. When
Waters and Varno became a couple in
1994, Waters taught Varno to ride. Her
teaching brought remarkable results: The
following year, Varno was able to enter a
national trail-riding competition in which
horse and rider follow a course of up to 35
miles. “Competitive trail riding is similar
to a road rally,” Varno explains, “The
horse in the best condition at the end
wins.”
Waters also competed in endurance
racing—100-mile races that take place
over the toughest terrain in the U.S. and
Canada. Riders gather points for national
awards. “I went along as her ‘water boy’
for that,” Varno jokes.
Varno, executive director of the
Ontario County Historical Society for
18 years, also wrote for The Trail Rider
Magazine for 14 years under the pen name
Ben Theyre.
The couple’s 19th-century house is
full of ribbons, awards and memorabilia
from their competition days. The house
sits on 40 acres outside of Canandaigua,
where they keep their six Arabian horses.
Arabians dominate at top levels in
endurance riding; Thunder, a gelding,
was Waters’ endurance horse. Now
Thunder enjoys retirement with “the
boys,” as Varno calls the horses BeBop,
Kahn and Beanie. There’s also Tali, a
mare and stallion, PassU, who has quite
the pedigree—his sibling is owned by the
Queen of Jordan.
Waters and Varno stopped competing
in 2006 and now ride for pleasure near
Bristol Mountain and along their property
in the Adirondacks. But in 2009, they
rode a lot farther.
“We had a desire to ride in exotic
places,” Varno says. So they embarked
on a horse safari in northwest India, with
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(This page) Joe Murphy with K-9
partner Asta, a German Shepherd bred
in Czechoslovakia. (Opposite page)
Brian Lazarus with Dafne, also bred in
Czechoslovakia.
a visit to the Pushkar Fair and its famed
horse and camel trading. Along the way,
they met a young traveling Englishman
named Paresh Parmer, who knew the
Hindi language. Waters taught Parmer to
ride on the spot, and a friendship formed.
Parmer, in return, acted as interpreter so
they could visit remote villages. “It was a
life-changing experience,” says Varno.
The following year, Parmer invited
the couple to visit his home in England,
where they took a five-day ride together in
Wales and beaches in England.
Back home, Varno and Waters also
have Baxter the alpaca and five Abyssinian
cats to share their lives. But it’s the horses
that “bring adventure,” Varno says.
“They’re our escape.”
– M.D.
Happy Tails
The success stories on the Ontario
County Humane Society “Happy Tails”
website can be real tear-jerkers.
Harley, a senior dog, was lost for
nearly a year and still wearing an Invisible
Fence collar when he was discovered
hanging around the landfill in Seneca.
Happy Tails reunited him with his
owner—who lived in Elmira.
Bob the seagull got surgery to
remove a tangle of fish line and hooks,
enjoyed some TLC and even shared a few
staff lunches before returning to the skies.
Happy Tails Ontario County
Humane Society (OCHS) keeps a certain
number of kennels open for any dog that’s
picked up by its officers. (The shelter also
supports cat adoptions.)
When the dogs come in, they’re
“usually scared to death,” says Ed
McGuigan, shelter director and cruelty
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investigator. The staff checks for
microchips, rabies tags and collars, which
bring great success in reuniting lost dogs
with their owners.
Legally, the shelter can hold a dog for
five days. After that, if they’re not claimed
by the owner, healthy and nonaggressive
dogs can be put up for adoption. The
group’s website featuring adoptable dogs
and cats has spurred interest in adoptions,
and shelter manager Linda Albanese
and staff work at matchmaking. They
encourage families to bring their kids—or
current pets—in to meet the animal. If
feel it’s a bad match, they won’t allow
the adoption. Happy Tails will keep an
adoptable dog for as long as it takes.
McGuigan’s son, William, is one of
OCHS’ officers, and he takes his own
dog, Sierra, into schools and even birthday
parties to talk about pet care and safety.
And that brings us to another tearjerker: One 8-year-old boy invited William
and Sierra to his birthday party and asked
his guests for presents to give to the
animals at Happy Tails rather than for
himself. William came away with a load of
supplies and toys—and $600 in donations.
– M.D.
To serve and protect
The K-9 dogs of the Ontario County
Sheriff’s Department share a deep bond
with their deputies—one unlike any other
working dog. But how does a canine earn
its own badge number and the job “to
serve and protect” the public? And what
do police dogs do when they’re off-duty?
We sat down with Ontario County’s
four K-9 officers to find out. The deputies
and their dogs are together 24/7—but
there’s no curling up on the couch for the
police dogs at home. They stay in a kennel
outside in the yard at the deputy’s house,
never entering the house. (Think of it a
bit like having a partner who lives in an inlaw apartment.)
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“When we’re in a house, we’re
looking for drugs, suspects or explosives—
this is what the dog associates with being
inside a house,” says Deputy Patrick
Fitzgerald, who works with Cecil, a
German shepherd from the Netherlands.
“In that search, a dog will do things like
climb onto counters.” Not exactly good
house manners.
Climate is the other reason the dogs
stay outside (though in an insulated
kennel). “The dogs have to acclimate to
the weather,” says Deputy Joe Murphy,
who works with Asta, a German shepherd
from Czechoslovakia. “They may need to
go out on the job on a winter night at 3
a.m. when it’s 10 degrees and windy. You
don’t want them cold and shivering.”
Being outside isn’t an adjustment.
In their training, they grew up in kennels
overseas and know nothing else, the
deputies say.
But not so for Truman, an Americanbred bloodhound working with Deputy
Anthony “Joe” DiMarian. An elderly
couple had donated Truman at the age
of 2 to the Sheriff’s Department, and
he became one of only seven police
bloodhounds in the state.
“Having grown up in a home, he
didn’t want to go to work,” DiMariano
remembers. “He wanted to hang out with
my wife in the house. But he had to be
outside to acclimate to our weather.”
The officers and dogs train together.
“We also act as decoys for handlers,”
says Deputy Brian Lazarus, who works
with Dafne, a German shepherd from
Czechoslovakia. “It’s the single most
unnatural thing you’ll ever do to ‘catch’
a dog in a bite test, but also the most
exhilarating.”
The four deputies share a tight bond
as K-9 officers. With the dogs trained
variously in drug and explosives searches,
the K-9 teams often go on dangerous
calls. The German shepherds are the
officers’ first line of backup as a partner,
trained to protect them with their lives.
That’s not to say it’s all work and
no play. For the dogs, work is play.
“Everything we do is a game to the
dog,” Lazarus explains. “Whether it’s
searching for a suspect, sniffing for drugs,
explosives, or chasing down and holding
a fleeing suspect—in their minds, they get
to ‘play’ for their job. Your pet is happy
when you come home from work. Our
dogs are happy when we go to work.”
Fitzgerald has two pet dogs at home
and also his former police dog, retired at
age 8 and now living inside. “When the
dog is retired, you still have that bond.
You spend six years together, and you
want to take them as a pet. They deserve a
good retirement…and a good life.”
– M.D.
Driving—no car needed
He might make his living as a dentist
in the family practice on Middle Cheshire
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Road, but Geoff Hallstead is also a time
traveler.
You may have seen him driving his
old-fashioned carriage behind his trusty
mare, Fancy Fixins. Maybe you even
took a ride with him when the Granger
Homestead was offering carriage tours.
Granger is where he learned this slowand-steady pastime, from the legendary
Dennett Pimkowski, who established the
Granger carriage tours back in 1998.
You might have even caught a glimpse
of Hallstead’s 105 acres on a former dairy
farm near Cheshire, where he lives with his
wife, Jane, son Rick and daughter Serica.
There you can step back in time with him,
standing by his collection of antique horsedrawn vehicles, with two barn cats and
some chickens underfoot.
Life slows down nicely here with
the “country dentist” and his big-sky
homestead. There’s plenty of room for his
gelding, Peter, and Fancy Fixins, who had
a racing career before spending four years
pulling an Amish buggy (yes, even the
horses are getting a chance to appreciate a
slower, quieter life).
They get their outings, at events
such as the annual Walnut Hill Carriage
Driving Competition (this year, Aug. 1418), where Hallstead and Fancy Fixins can
cavort with fellow carriage enthusiasts.
But mostly, carriage driving is a chance to
step back to a different way of life.
“I still like the freedom of getting
somewhere without relying on fossil fuels,”
Hallstead says.
– M.D.
To the rescue
Dr. Jo Beth Mertens of Canandaigua
didn’t remember not having a dog—until
the family’s German shepherd passed away
last year. Surfing the web on a sleepless
night, she stumbled across Big Dogs, Big
Hearts (BDBH) and read about a white
German shepherd left tied to a tree when
its owners moved away. Mertens became a
BDBH volunteer, one of 40 at the rescue,
and ended up transporting that very dog
to Cornell for surgeries.
Darcy Drons, BDBH’s volunteer
director, has fostered 41 dogs since she
and others founded the organization in
2008. Drons lives in Bloomfield, but
BDBH has no physical address.
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Canandaigua Magazine
Canandaigua artist Nancy Lane and
husband, Mark Obbie, adopted their
German shepherds, Luka and Zoe, from
BDBH. Jean Angelilli, BDBH’s animal
photographer, was Luka’s “foster mom,”
and Luka still recognizes Angelilli at
BDBH’s annual adopters reunions. How
does she know? Luka “gives her a bear
hug—paws on her chest—and a little
kiss,” says Lane.
BDBH focuses mainly on rescuing
German shepherds and large breeds.
Greyhound Adoption of the Greater
Rochester Area (GAGR) pairs retired
racing greyhounds with adoptive homes.
Volunteer coordinator Sue Benedict and
family fostered eight greyhounds in their
Farmington home and then adopted one.
Foster families ready dogs for life off the
track as they learn to negotiate things like
glass doors, stairs and wood floors for the
first time.
Becca Birx of Canandaigua adopted
her yellow Lab from Rudy’s Rescue,
which focuses on Labrador retrievers. Birx
says rescue dogs share a special bond with
their owners because “they know they
have been saved.”
Amy Holtz founded Rudy’s Rescue
as a personal mission. While searching for
a dog of her own, she found a sweet Lab
at a local shelter slated to be euthanized
because he had bitten someone. Holtz
wanted to adopt it, but the shelter would
only release the dog to a Lab rescue.
None existed in the area, so Holtz
vowed to start her own; Rudy’s Rescue
opened in 2006. With the help of 30
volunteers—Birx now among them—
Rudy’s Rescue places about 50 dogs a
year.
And for the cat lovers among us? The
Colony Caregivers rescue in Shortsville
manages free-roaming cat populations,
fostering and placing adoptable cats and
caring for wild “feral” cat colonies.
Founder Maureen Robert says,
thanks to veterinarians who waive fees or
offer discounts, the group has spayed/
neutered more than 1,300 cats since its
inception. Volunteers foster the adoptable
ones until they find a “forever home.”
Wild cats are returned to their colony,
typically behind shopping areas or in parks
or abandoned buildings. Volunteers also
feed and check on the colonies.
That sounds like a lot of work. But,
Lauren Van Deroef
works 15-hour days in
her dog-walking and
pet-sitting business,
Pets of Canandaigua.
says Robert, “I can’t imagine doing any
less than I do every day.”
– N.M.
Empire in the making?
After three years of pet-sitting,
Lauren Van Deroef finally realized she
had a bona fide business on her hands.
Van Deroef had begun cat-sitting for
friends and family in 2009 to earn some
extra cash. She was working in retail but
wasn’t happy in her job, so one day she
advertised dog-walking and pet-sitting
services in the local PennySaver. Once
she had enough clients, she quit her
job, choosing furry clients over grumpy
humans.
“Dogs never have bad days,” she
points out.
Van Deroef’s business, Pets of
Canandaigua, is proudly displayed on
decals splashed onto her car—a traveling
billboard that has brought in clients such
as Kathie Affleck, who hired Van Deroef
to walk her Lab, Jessie.
Most of Van Deroef’s customers
live within 10 miles of downtown
Canandaigua. Van Deroef will do it all,
from feeding and walking to scooping
litter and watering plants. She’s certified in
animal first aid, so she’ll administer shots.
She’s brave, so she took on the assignment
to feed live fish to piranhas. She’s not
finicky, so she was fine with mixing up
variations of “dog soup” (dog food, water,
olive oil and canned vegetables). And she’s
maternal enough: “Corgis need to be
burped after they eat,” she notes.
Van Deroef, who is 23, says she
works at least six “crazy days” a week. Her
typical day starts at 7 a.m. and ends at
10 p.m. She admits her schedule isn’t for
everyone. She plans to hire two employees
this summer—high season for petsitting—but turnover has been a problem
in the past.
But she says she loves her job.
“Everyone is happy to see me,” she
explains, laughing.
Affleck now hires Van Deroef to
move in with Jessie the Lab when she
travels.
“Jessie is happier in her own home,”
Affleck explains, adding that her dog has
“bonded with Lauren.”
When Van Deroef lives at a client’s
house, she has to schedule visits to tend
to her own two cats. Someday, though
not anytime soon, she wants to have
her own dog. “A Great Dane, mastiff,
Newfoundland—anything gigantic,” she
says.
She also wants to open a pet hotel
some day. She envisions rooms that “don’t
look like boxes,” and complementary
offerings such as training, grooming and
possibly swimming facilities.
“My pet empire,” she says.
– N.M.
Cat haven
It might look like a three-bedroom
house, but those are actually “cat rooms,”
with windows situated perfectly to look
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37
coverstory
We live by the conviction that
pets are not people; they are
unique animals with unique
nutritional needs that are
distinctly different from our own.
COURTESY OF NANCY LANE
Happy family: Mark Obbie and Nancy Lane adopted Luka and Zoe from BDBH rescue.
We are committed to innovations in
Health Nutrition and improving the
lives of the cats and dogs we serve.
Based on extensive scientific
research we make the most precise
and effective nutrition for cats
and dogs determined by size, age,
lifestyle and breed.
Catrina DeJaneiro, Local Contact
716.517.1484
www.RoyalCanin.us
Royal Canin USA Customer Service
800-592-6687
Manufactured in ISO Certified
Company Owned Facility
100% guaranteed
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Canandaigua Magazine
out onto 15 pastoral acres.
Pet Pride was established by cat lover
and advocate Jacqueline Russel in 1977
as a nonprofit cat shelter. What started
in Russel’s home now has a permanent
location in Victor, thanks to a $250,000
grant from Maddie’s Fund, a family
foundation dedicated to no-kill shelters.
The felines roam freely by day when
staff is present. Cages safely secure them
at night. Pet Pride tries to find homes for
the cats, but as a no-kill shelter, it doesn’t
euthanize cats it can’t place.
Cats that aren’t adopted live their
natural lives out at the shelter. So
characters like George, a striped domestic
short hair admitted in 2008, are lucky
to be here. Shelter manager Norma
Halbleib calls George “a sweet cat,” but
he has a less-sweet tendency to “mark”
when he’s under stress. He’s now a
shelter kitty, along with Alie (personality
issues) and Charlie (a diabetic).
Bob Boeckman, a chemistry
professor at the University of Rochester,
and his wife, Mary Delton, adopted
a gray and white tiger cat, Little Bits,
with a “personality that wouldn’t quit.”
Boeckman became a board member and,
when Russel retired in 2006, took over
as board chair.
The shelter works with the
community, as well. Scouts volunteer at
the shelter to earn badges, and students
organize can and bottle drives to raise
funds. Members of Happiness House’s
Traumatic Brian Injuries group in
Canandaigua have volunteered to work
on regaining work skills.
Sometimes it takes a village to raise
a cat.
– N.M.
First and last resort
When all else fails, people call dog
trainer Melissa Cocola.
As a young girl in Manchester,
Cocola loved to walk dogs and watch
her father train hunting dogs. In her 20s,
she apprenticed with a dog trainer and
became a veterinary assistant. But it was
earning her master trainer certification at
age 30 that jump-started her career.
A year later, in 2001, Cocola
purchased seven bucolic acres in
Walworth to open a boarding and
training complex. Cocola’s Creekside
Pet Resort took a fresh approach:
an all-inclusive price for cage-free
accommodations, medications, bathing,
special diet requests, walks and group
play. She added Creekside Lodge in
Macedon in 2011.
Paul Creek, co-owner of Sutter’s
Canandaigua Marina, and his wife, Holly,
have boarded their German shepherd,
Uno, at Creekside since 2007. Creek
says he was struck by how the attractive
complex resembled an Adirondacks chalet.
But ultimately he was most impressed
by the staff’s love of animals. Now the
couple is reluctant to leave their dog
anywhere else.
“If I can’t find a slot at Creekside,
I hire someone to dog-sit at my
house,” he says.
But training remains Cocola’s
first love, and she has kept busy
through referrals from clients and
veterinarians such as Dr. Steve
Smith of Canandaigua Veterinary
Hospital. Smith says he refers
significant behavioral problems, such
as aggression or anxiety, to Cocola
because he has seen “profound
transformations” in canine patients
who train with her.
Cocola rarely turns away cases.
“Dogs don’t work on a timeline,” she
says. One option she offers, Canine
College, is a residency program to
address severe behavioral issues. Dogs
live at the Creekside complex to train
extensively with her and associate
trainer Kourtney McKnight. Collegebound dogs have arrived from as far
north as Canada and as far south as
Florida.
“All of the out-of-state cases had
been to other trainers prior to coming
here and were told that the dogs were
too aggressive to be rehabilitated,”
says Cocola. Many people reach out to
her as a last resort, but her services also
include standard private lessons, puppy
management and breed selection.
Cocola’s personal breed
preference is the Doberman: “smart,
sweet goofballs,” she calls them
(she has two of her own). Cocola’s
young daughter, Francesca, is already
following the family tradition.
“Her first word was ‘dog’,”
Cocola says with a laugh. Go figure.
– N.M. c
Putt for pets
The 8th annual Pet Pride Classic golf
tournament fundraiser will take place
Tuesday, June 18, at Ravenwood Golf
Club in Victor. The tournament begins
with lunch. For information or to register,
contact Bill Crocker at 585-329-1077 or
visit PetPrideNY.org.
“
“
Over the years, our family pets have brought us joy, comfort, love, many
laughs, and ultimately even many tears.…I’ll never forget the time the high
school bus went by at the usual time and Sibley, our loving black Labrador,
went to the back door with her most enthusiastic tail wag…Only, no one
got off the bus this time—the kids were off to college. It took one look from
her and I just walked over, wrapped my arms around her and cried...it felt
so good to know someone—my dear dog—understood.”
Maria Adukonis Clark
Writer
My 40-pound, soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, Riley Bo Jangles Dunkin
Snow (Riley for short) is a light of happiness in my crazy busy life. When
long stressful days try to get the best of me…Riley gives me a breedfamous “Wheaten greetin” with paws up for a big hug, tons of kisses—
and his tail wags so hard he almost falls over. He helps me to stop and
realize to take each day and moment as a blessing.”
“
“
Elisha Snow
Communications & events coordinator,
Canandaigua Chamber of Commerce
democrat and chronicle FILE PHOTO
Our cat Felix is the “F” in F. Oliver’s; her picture is on our flagship
product, our 18-year-old reserve balsamic vinegar.”
Penelope Pankow
Proprietor of F. Oliver’s Oils and Vinegars
A good pet is something wonderful to come home to each evening.
That’s why dogs are a little better. Cats are probably very happy to see
you, but dogs really let you know!”
Lynne Erdle
Canandaigua City school superintendent
Canandaigua Magazine
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