A.V. resident pens children's book based on therapy dog’s life

By Martial Haprov
STAFF WRITER

APPLE VALLEY • For more than 11 years, it was Fargo’s job to comfort victims of domestic violence, calm kids who were struggling to read and befriend senior citizens.

Fargo’s lengthy career as a therapy pet is the basis for Nancy Winters’ recent children’s book, “Fargo: Sled Dog of the Desert.”

Fargo was an Alaskan Husky who Winters, an Apple Valley resident, had for 13 years until Fargo passed away last month. Winters said the book is basically a biography of Fargo’s life.

Winters’ son, Dan, a photographer, was shooting photos in Alaska of Susan Butcher, the second woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. When Dan told Winters about his project, she jokingly said, “Bring me home a puppy.”

So he did.

He brought Winters an eight-week-old husky. Her then-3-year-old grandson Dylan named the pup “Fargo.”

Winters moved to the High Desert in 1997 when Fargo was six months old. She said she signed herself and Fargo up for obedience training — mostly as a way to meet people in her new surroundings.

Winters said Fargo loved the training and adapted to it well. When she saw a newspaper ad for a therapy dog training group, she signed Fargo up again. When Fargo passed that training, the duo began their therapy careers.

Winters and Fargo visited domestic violence shelters, libraries, elementary schools and residential care facilities for the elderly such as Merrill Gardens in Apple Valley. At the libraries and schools, kids would read out loud to Fargo.

“The kids get a chance to open up in a non-judgmental setting,” Winters said. “Studies have found this kind of therapy is very beneficial to kids because they overcome obstacles in reading. It relaxes them.”

Shortly after the duo began the therapy work, Winters discovered she wanted to pursue the field further. In 2003, she started PJ’s Pals, a nonprofit group based in Apple Valley that organizes school and library visits. Today, the group consists of more than 40 volunteer therapy dogs and their owners.

Winters has had two other dogs for several years — PJ, the namesake of the nonprofit group, and Wilbur — who continue with Winters the same work she began nearly 13 years ago. They visit the Apple Valley Library nearly once a month. On occasion she’s even taken several elementary students with her and the dogs to visit ailing hospital patients and senior citizens.

“You can’t find a better combination than of dogs and kids visiting the elderly,” Winters said.

Fargo retired from therapy work in 2010 and passed away a year later. Winters said it was Fargo’s spirit that helped find her calling in life.

“Fargo changed the direction of my life,” Winters said. “The book encourages children they can do anything if they try, just like Fargo. Fargo set a good example for children, and for me.”

Martial Haprov may be reached at (760) 951-6236 or at Martial@AppleValley-Review.com.