Author Kim Nash always has a dog in her books and they’re normally named after a dog that she knows or after a person she knows. In Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove, the dog is called Gladys. Kim chose this name because it was her Nan’s name and she knew it would make her sister laugh when she read it. In Finding Family at the Cornish Cove, there is a dog called Reggie. Kim regularly walks her English Setter Roni with her friend Emma and Reggie belongs to her.
When Kim was thinking of the dog she would include in Making Memories at the Cornish Cove, the first dog that sprang to mind was Hobson, a fellow English Setter who has his own Facebook page and is a bit of a doggy legend. Kim follows his antics on social media and loves the fact that he was a therapy dog and wanted to include that in the book to raise awareness of the work that they do.
You can follow Hobson on Facebook at The Daily Hobson or Instagram @thedailyhobson and learn all about his work as a therapy dog and see what a superstar he is. And of course, you can read about the fictional Hobson in Making Memories at the Cornish Cove.
Hobson’s owner Penel Malby owns a stunning dog-friendly beach house in Norfolk called The Lobster and Kim asked her some questions about how Hobson became involved in being being a therapy dog?
When and why did you decide that Hobson would make a good therapy dog?
I decided before Covid that we would try for Hobson to be a therapy dog because he loves people so much and he’s very calm and loving.
What did you do then to make it happen?
I approached Therapy Dogs Nationwide and filled in all the paperwork and we had an assessment, and thank goodness he passed! The assessment includes being touched all over and being in a fairly busy loud environment. Basically to check that the dog is bombproof and of a good temperament.
Can you tell us a little about his role as a therapy dog?
We visit a mental health hospital, an adult daycare centre for people with special needs, and an infant school where Hobson is the Reading Dog and the kids read out loud to him every Monday afternoon. He loves being a therapy dog. He really loves people. He loves all the attention and it feels to me like he knows he’s helping people, especially at the hospital, where sometimes patients are very upset and need comfort, possibly they have their own dog and are missing it so much. Dogs are totally non-judgemental, and Hobson is very empathetic and intuitive. He seems to know if people need his affection.
We do Therapy Dog work two afternoons a week and the rest of the time Hobson is a very normal dog. He goes for lovely walks with his doggy brother and sister and basically leads a very normal dog life.
You can find out more about therapy dogs at: https://tdn.org.uk
Here’s Hobson modelling Kim’s latest book Making Memories at the Cornish Cove.
