Published: October 13, 2008 07:46 pm            

Dog retires after years of service to New Waverly man

On Oct. 5, a retirement party was held at the New Waverly Public Library. More than 60 people attended to celebrate the life and work of the honoree.

After eight years, most of his life, in service, he was finally getting to relax and eat human food.

That’s right; the retirement party was for a dog.

But anyone in attendance would say that Drummer, the guest of honor, is far more than just a dog.

Trained as a service dog by Pennsylvania-based non-profit organization Canine Partners for Life (CPL), Drummer was brought to Texas in 2000 to aid in the daily life of New Waverly resident Jimmy Hardy, who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Hardy’s disease is what doctors consider “a mild case” of cerebral palsy, but the condition still greatly inhibits his ability to walk on his own. After years of using canes and walkers, Hardy’s mother, Sue, finally began to research alternate ways of aiding her son’s mobility.

After researching service dogs, Hardy found CPL, but discovered a problem while attempting to apply.

“Their policy is they don’t deal with anyone not within a 250-mile radius from their location,” said Jimmy Hardy. “Of course, we were far outside that radius, but something told my mother to call them anyway.”

Hardy did call anyway, and CPL told her they would do what they could to help, and gave her the go ahead to apply for a service dog for her son.

In the summer of 2000, Jimmy and Sue Hardy traveled to Pennsylvania to be interviewed by CPL, making stops at several historical sites along the way.

While at the CPL facility, the Hardys were shown several service dogs. One of them was Drummer.

“I instantly liked Drummer,” Jimmy Hardy said. “He seemed to be gentle and kind, but the selection of the dog was still up to them. We were told it might take up to two years to match me with a dog.”

To the Hardys surprise and delight, CPL informed them that they had matched Jimmy with Drummer only six weeks later.

“We believe it was God’s intervention,” Jimmy Hardy said. “I was just supposed to get Drummer from the start.”

After the matching process was complete, Jimmy Hardy traveled again to Pennsylvania, this time with his father, to bring Drummer home to Texas. But first, he had to endure a training camp during which he learned how to handle his service dog.

“As much as I love Drummer, that camp almost ate me up,” Hardy said. “I eventually got through it but I wouldn’t have made it without friends.”

While at the training camp Jimmy met a woman named Nadine, who was also matched with a service dog. As the two bonded, Nadine reached out to Jimmy and helped him through the struggle of training. The two would remain friends long after, until Nadine’s recent death.

“Without Nadine there I would not have made it,” Hardy said.

Their training complete, Jimmy and Drummer returned home to Texas in the fall of 2000 and set out on a series of adventures that neither of them had ever imagined.

With Drummer’s help, Jimmy was able to walk with his graduating high school class in 2001 without the aid of a cane or a walker.

Later, Jimmy conquered the hilly terrain of Sam Houston State University’s campus while he studied there, something he says he could never have done without Drummer by his side.

“His main job was to hold me up while I was walking,” Hardy said. “He can also fetch for me. He can pick things up that I drop and can’t reach, and he could even turn the lights on and off for me if I needed him to.”

The pair also traveled to several states together, including a trip to Washington D.C. to attend the National Leadership Forum on National Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy.

“I have a love for world affairs and especially the military,” Hardy said. “I got my love of history from my love of the military, so I was very excited to be able to attend that, and that’s another thing that Drummer made possible for me.”

Jimmy and Drummer have also done their part to educate the public on the life of service dogs and people with disabilities, speaking to local 4-H and Girl Scout groups, and serving as part of in-service presentation given at Texas Children’s Hospital.

But the most important work the pair has done together involves a group called Paws America, an organization dedicated to helping fund organizations like CPL who provide service dogs to those in need.

Jimmy’s affiliation with Paws America first grew out of a desire to give back to the organization that gave him Drummer.

In 2003, the Hardys received an email from CPL informing them that the organization was on the verge of closing due to financial trouble. They decided to take action.

“This is totally a non-profit organization,” Jimmy Hardy said. “They had no backing from the government, so there was no safety net. We decided that CPL had done so much for us, we needed to do something for them.”

Jimmy and Drummer joined Paws America, becoming the only group working for the organization in Texas, and held a charity walk. In their first year of fundraising, they raised $3,000.

In the five years since, Jimmy and Drummer have helped to raise more than $23,000, benefitting the organization the brought the pair together, Canine Partners for Life.

In a more recent adventure, this spring Jimmy was named an alternate delegate to the Republican State Convention in Austin. When another delegate was unable to attend, Jimmy and Drummer went in his.

“He was the hit of the convention,” Sue Hardy said. “Drummer was the only service dog in all those thousands of people.”

Sadly, Drummer’s life took an unexpected turn several years ago, when it was discovered he was battling illness.

“We discovered he had hepatitis two years ago,” Jimmy Hardy said. “But he could still work with that, then this summer it progressed into liver cancer and we also found out that he has lymphoma.”

With two types of terminal cancer weakening his body, the Hardys made the decision to retire Drummer, so he could live out his last days in leisure.

Even as his life is drawing to a close, Drummer’s life has ensured that he won’t be forgotten.

“His greatest contribution has been the physical support for Jimmy,” Sue Hardy said. “But Right along with that is the emotional support. He is absolutely Jimmy’s best friend. Jimmy calls him his little brother.”

As his mother describes their relationship, Jimmy Hardy reaches down to Drummer, who is lying at his feet, and gently rubs the dog’s head.

“You can see why I call him that,” he said.

        

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