Author: Barbara Gail Techel
Illustrator: Victoria Kay Lieffring
ISBN-10: 0-9800052-4-8
Publisher:  Joyful Paw Prints

Click Here To Purchase Frankie, the Walk 'N Roll Therapy Dog Visits Libby's House

Frankie is on a roll once again, only this time he and his owner, Barbara Techel, are a therapy team visiting Libby’s House, a  senior facility for residents with Alzheimer’s and other dementia disorders. Frankie the Walk ‘n Roll Therapy Dog Visits Libby’s House  is a delightful children’s book filled with vivid colorful illustrations.

Techel’s first book, Frankie, the Rock ‘n Roll Dog tells the story of Frankie the dachshund’s paralysis and how he got his wheels (a specially-designed canine wheelchair from Eddie’s Wheels). In this second book, Barbara Techel, Frankie’s owner and the author, writes about their experience learning about therapy dog teams, going through training and certification, and volunteering at Libby’s House. The book is told through Frankie’s eyes, and just as Frankie has trepidation about new experiences with senior residents in wheelchairs, book readers might have the same fears.

Frankie and Techel, or the Techel-Teckel (Teckel is a German nickname for the dachshund breed) team as they are sometimes called, befriend Daniel, a retired policeman and crime scene investigator. On one of their visits, Daniel is not in his room.

We quickly walk to his room and peek in. Something is different. I don’t hear the radio playing. The stacks of books on the table are no longer there. The large stuffed yellow Labrador toy that is always on his bed, is gone too.

I look up to my mom and wonder, where could Daniel be today?

Just as we start to turn around, Patty, the activity director, comes into the room. Her eyes filled with tears. “I am sorry to have to tell you this,” she said, “but Daniel died on Friday.”

Techel’s book is a delightful story as well as an introduction for young readers to profound concepts as dementia and death. With the story line being told through the eyes of a disabled dachshund, children are able to cope with difficult subjects introduced in a disarming manner.

 To learn more about Frankie, visit his website, where Frankie has been chosen as the Official Mascot for National Disabled Pets Day.