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Dylan
by Cathy Pritchard

Dylan came from an animal rescue in St. Croix to a rescue in Pennsylvania where, happily, we found each other. When I read Sinbad of the Coast Guard I was struck not just by Dylan's physical resemblance to Sinbad, but the similarities in their personalities: feisty, brave, sociable and smart.

He has such an energetic and sunny outlook that he makes friends with everyone—people and dogs alike. Even dogs that are not particularly friendly at first cannot resist his exuberance, and he wins them over.

One of my favorite stories about Dylan is when I took him to training when he was a puppy. He was the smallest dog amongst a crowd of young labs, retrievers, wolfhounds and others, but he loved it. When the instructor brought him into the middle of the circle to demonstrate an exercise, he followed her commands perfectly; his eyes glued to her, his whole body intent, and if it looked as though she was deciding which dog to pick next, he would give a short yap as if to say "Pick me! Pick me!"

One of the dogs was kept to one side, as while it was okay with people, apparently it did not get on well with other dogs. One night there was a great commotion when it attacked another dog who got too close. The trainers stopped the attack before there was too much physical damage, but this other young pup was obviously very shaken up and jumping at shadows the rest of the night. One of the instructors came over and asked me if I would mind staying with Dylan at the end of the class to help this dog get over her traumatic experience. We stayed for about half an hour in the horse barn where Dylan gently coaxed his friend back to a state where she wasn't shivering and scared anymore. By the end, they were roughhousing and having a grand time. I was so proud of my little "therapy" dog!

It's probably not too much of a stretch to think that he might be one of Sinbad's great grandchildren, if Sinbad ever disembarked in St. Croix! I like to say that while I rescued Dylan, he rescued me too, as he has brought such love and joy and fun into my life.