I met Pete and Roberta Apple, from South Texas, at a campground in Loveland, CO. They were walking two good-looking English mastiffs--Bella, 10 years old, foreground in the above picture, and Georgia, behind her.

Bella is a retired hospital therapy dog who was trained under the Delta Program. She also was a "read dog" who went to schools and listened to children read who were behind on their reading skills.

Bella is five years old and not yet mature enough for hospital training. Pete has some questions about whether she will ever be, and also whether he and Roberta have the stamina to repeat the training.