It's time to pick the first annual Legacy Award winner. All the nominations are in and the process of picking a winner had begun. All the dogs nominated were wonderful. It should have been very difficult to pick one dog that stood out from the rest. Actually, it was impossible. There were two.

The first one to really catch our eye was a Therapy Dog extraordinaire. This dog has done countless visits over her lifetime. Almost every day, she does her thing, visiting hospitals, assisted living homes and schools. This girl has battled cancer, not once, but twice and has continued to do her duties without complaint. Her name is Tansy, Topaz Tansy Honey, CGC CD ATT TDIEVA and she is "owned" by Louise McCord. Tansy was nominated by Pauline Stevens and Heartland Golden Retriever Rescue, of which Tansy is an alumni.

The second dog, although not a Therapy Dog, has nonetheless met the criteria of the Legacy Award by helping people in a very different way. This dog saves lives. He is a certified Search and Rescue dog! His most recent job was to travel to Haiti where he found a young woman who had been buried in the rubble of a collapsed bank for 5 days and surely would have perished if this dog hadn't found her. This wonderful dog has worked in the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike as well as many local disasters. The dogs name is Baxter and he is "owned" by Gary Durian who is a firefighter with the LA County Fire Department. Baxter, came to Gary through the National Disaster and Search Dog Foundation. He was adopted by them from Homeward Bound Rescue and Sanctuary. Baxter and Gary were nominated for this award by Lea Kachler-Leake, one of the Directors of Homeward Bound.

Now do you see why we decided to pick two dogs?

I want to thank everyone who sent in their nominations. Every dog would have made Lucy proud. I think we have succeeded in picking the winner(s) who have gone above and beyond and truly deserve the title "Legacy Award Winner"

The winners will each receive a plaque certifying the achievement and a jQuery100 gift certificate from a very generous Dogstuff.com. The sponsoring Rescue will receive a jQuery100 cash donation as well as the National Disaster and Search Dog Foundation.

Official presentations will take place at the 2010 Golden Retriever National in Denver, Camp Lucy, and Goldstock.

Chandler Rudd
President TGF/Lucy's Legacy