Provence Falcore the Luckdragon was a yellow Labrador Retriever who loved to show off his tricks and loved to have a job. He was named after the "Luckdragon" in the children's story The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende. Falcore's training started with obedience when he was five months old. He completed Obedience Levels 1, 2, 3, Agility Beginner 1 and took Obedience Level 4 a few different times. He was a quick study and loved to perform tricks that made people laugh. He was a real ham and loved performing in front of a crowd. One of his instructors gave the class a list of 101 things to teach your dog. The list had everything from sit and stay to riding a skateboard and finding keys. Of the 101 things on the list, Falcore could do 86 of them. There were a few things that we didn't want him to learn such as getting a drink out of the fridge.

Since Falcore's personality was so great and he loved to show off, pet therapy seemed like the natural thing to do. I heard how great it was and I loved to help people. Falcore had already helped me get over my fear of dogs; it seemed only natural for him to make others feel comfortable as well. The problem was that here in New Hampshire, there was no place to go to get training to become certified to perform pet therapy work. The Delta Society ran a test in the local area so we went to the test. He passed and got his Delta Certificate for pet therapy work early in 1999, but without any local organization, we were still without a resource to direct us to facilities that may have wanted pet therapy services.

That is when I heard about the local Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) and that they may allow dogs in. I took the chance and called them. Sure enough, they would allow him in with supervised visits. I was happy for the chance to show off what my great dog could do, so off we went.

It was not long before we were regulars at the VAMC. Hearing that people were looking forward to the yellow dog coming for a visit made me very happy and seeing him perform for the people was a beautiful thing to see. Falcore loved to dance with me with music that was being played by a live group made up of volunteer musicians.

In December of 2001 Falcore was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease. We were forced to take him out of therapy work for a short time while we got him well again. Once he was doing better, we got him back doing what he loved. We were able to visit again for some time before his illness made it too difficult on him.

Falcore died on July 27th, 2003 from complications from Cushing's Disease. He brought many smiles to many faces and his cold nose warmed many hearts. Falcore helped people get over their fear of dogs. He helped people with new limbs to get up and walk. He danced his way into many hearts and he truly brought good luck no matter where he went.

It is for these reasons we are called Luckdragon's Angels. We want people who have the desire to volunteer in pet therapy in New Hampshire to have a place to get started.