RCA is 15 years old and in quite good health, considering her advanced years. She came to Alaska from Alabama. Because the housing market was tight and there was pitbull-hysteria in the air, her owners couldn't find a place to rent that would allow pitbulls and she was eventually sent to the Alaska SPCA in Anchorage. A friend of mine, John Ledum, was trying to start a hearing-dog program in Alaska. He and a local veterinarian, Dr. Joyce Murphy, temperament-tested 170 dogs and RCA scored the highest, so she was chosen to be the first hearing dog in Alaska. At...