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Moving to New Mexico is quite a shock for Belle and her owner, Darcy Simmons; so very different from their home in Illinois. But Darcy and Belle quickly make new friends in their neighbors Susan and her Airedale Terrier, Jazzy. Life would be great in their new home, if it wasn't for the dog-hating girl across the way, Emily Robinson. If that wasn't bad enough for Belle, there's no agility club in town and Darcy starts training her and Buster to become therapy dogs, whatever that is.
Learning to be a therapy dog for Belle is so different than becoming a great agility dog, especially when she doesn't understand the importance. Buster seems to be a natural at it, and that irritates Belle even more. When Emily falsely accuses Belle of biting her, Belle's life takes a turn for the worse. Can Belle overcome the challenges of being a good therapy dog, while handling the meanness she and Darcy face from Emily?
About the author
Connie Gotsch has published two award-winning adult novels,
A Mouth Full of Shell and
Snap Me a Future.
A Mouth Full of Shell won the First Place Award for full-length fiction from the New Mexico Press Women's Communication Contest. She also wrote three short plays,
A Peck of Dirt,
Or Are You Cinderella--? and
New Delight. In 2007 she received the New Mexico Press Women's Communicator of Achievement Award.
She held an Ed.D in Leadership and Policy Studies with an emphasis on educational media from Northern Illinois University. Connie worked at KSJE, Public Radio for the Four Corners serving as Program Director, host of the award-winning morning classical music show, "Roving with the Arts," or producer of a segment for authors called "Write On Four Corners." In 2008, she received a Book in Hand Award from the New Mexico Book Association for her work in promoting New Mexico authors and publishers on the program.
Connie passed away in July, 2012.
