The Story of....
Champion ValleyWood's Justy Nuff CDX, WC, CKC CGC, TT,
"Justy"
ValleyWood's Justy Nuff "Justy" as she was called came into my life just following the demise of my 10-year marriage. She helped me to focus and to look toward the future. Justy got her name due to the fact that I bought her based on her pedigree, and from a breeder in Ohio. By the time I changed my Canadian dollars into Amercian funds I had just enough to pay for her.
Justy and I tackled life together with my 3 girls ages 1, 3, and 5 years. Life was tough at times. Late at night I would pour my heart out to Justy after my little girls had gone to bed. She would sit patiently and lovingly with me as I wept with the overwhelmning demands and frustrations that a single mother dependant on social assistance has to bear.
Training with Justy for Obedience competitions and trials helped me keep a sense of identity. She and I travelled to many conferences, training camps, shows, and trials. She was my rock, my soulmate, my best friend, and my strongest supportor. A lot for a dog but she met the challenge unwaveringly. She worked with me as my demo dog and set the standards for all my students to work toward. She never failed to amaze and impress people with exemplary behaviour.
Justy went every where she could with me. When I worked the 3-11 shift at a nursing home in Parry Sound she would come with me and make the rounds with me visiting all the seniors and bringing joy into their long and lonely evenings. As I also taught obedience classes as part of my living she came with me to work there frequently. Later in life when a partner and I started a dog training business in Barrie, which had been a dream of mine for many years, she continued to come to work with me there as well. While first endeavouring to get my business up and running I continued to work part time as a nurse in Barrie at RVH
One unseasonally warm saturday in May I had to go to work to teach some obedience classes prior to going into work a 3-11 shift at RVH our local hospital. When I got ready to leave Justy happily went out to the vehicle to go with me. I was running late and I irritatably shooed her off as she couldn't go with me this day as I would be going to the hospital following teaching the classes. Unfortunately when I went back into the house to get my uniform she jumped in the van anyway and because I had been cranky with her she laid down very quietly behind the back seat. I didn't see her there, and off I went to teach my obedience classes. When I returned a couple hours later Justy lay collapsed with heat exhaustion. I brought her into the shop and put her in the tub of cool water to try and bring her temperature down. She went into full arrest and I did CPR on her and got her breathing again but tragically she arrested again and could not be revived.

I not only lost my best friend but also a giganic part of soul and my being that day. I was eaten with guilt and anguish. Had I not been cranky with her, she would have sat in her usual front seat and I would have known she was there. To make matter worse my business partner was accusatory and unsupportive regarding my devasting loss and after the partnership broke down she malicously told people I had left the dog in the van irreponsibliy.
It has taken me 5 years to be able to come to terms with my loss. Now as I step forward once again and open my own business for the betterment of dogs and their people I dedicate not only this training facility but this action to a new leash on life to my dear Justy, who waits for me at the Rainbow bridge. She guides my steps every day for she knows that my heart belongs to all dogs and she forgives me for not knowing she was there. She is the protector of my dreams and goals.