I had no idea when I got Toaster how much more she could help me besides being a HOT dog neck wrap until she was 3 1/2 months old, and posed for the infamous “Oops” greeting card.

One day, shortly after I got her, she was secretly posing on the bed with an empty yogurt cup in her mouth that she retrieved from the recycling bag on the floor. While busy on my computer, I finally noticed Toaster had been quiet for a few minutes, which was unusual for a 3-1/2 month old puppy. When I looked up Toaster was in this adorable pose, and I thought, that would make a funny photo.

So I got up to get my camera from the closet right across from Toaster, made a lot of noise, turned the camera on, focused, and finally took the picture. All the while, Toaster kept perfectly still, posed as if waiting for the picture to be taken. For an excitable puppy, that was an amazing amount of time for her to be still with a cup in her mouth! It seemed as if she was sending me a message by this, because when the pictures were developed, I took one look at this picture, I said “Wow, that’s a greeting card, and the idea of creating inspirational and compassionate form of communication to reflect the unique circumstances faced by health challenged people and their loved ones was instantly divined.

These cards, inspired by Toaster, led me to find a positive expression of my personal struggle with Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and my wish to share the potential healing a small service dog can bring.

I combined my professional experience and skill as a therapist with my personal experience of having an invisible, chronic illness and resurfaced with a new mission: helping people bridge relationships affected by illness and disability by providing avenues of communication through inspirational greeting cards and gifts, featuring Toaster and her puppies.