I've had the pleasure of living with 13 dogs over my lifetime. Currently, Jake lives with us and is the subject of some of my other Hubs.

I was considering adopting another dog and had gone on several sites looking for local adoptees. I had been through a number of pictures, but none clicked with me. Getting a little frustrated, I decided to enter "dog" and "adoptions" and "NH" in my search engine. What I got was a listing in Youtube, showing a dog in a wheelchair! (See above clip).

During the clip - a website was mentioned and it showed on the screen, so after the clip finished, I visited the website to check it out. It's beyond amazing! They have SO many products to ease the life of handicapped dogs and to help owners keep their beloved pets comfortable and happy. The site is www.handicappedpets.com

Imagine my surprise as well when I learned this business is based in NH - within a few miles from where I live. Having nothing to lose, and since I'd been looking for a job for over a year and a half, I sent a message through the site's contact form, telling them how much I enjoyed the site and begging their pardon for soliciting, but did they by any chance have any job openings?

I received a nice reply from Kathy, the VP of Operations saying they did indeed have a part time opening for a customer service rep and to go ahead and forward my resume to her.

In the meantime, I continued to hound the several job posting sites I'd turned into "favorites" and answered every ad that even remotely fit what I was looking for. An ad in the NH Craigslist caught my eye and as it also contained a computer related challenge as a means of gaining an interview, I answered that one eagerly, hoping the answer I supplied would at least get a foot in the door.

As most of you may know, when answering an ad in Craigslist, posters are supplied with a blind email address, so you really have no idea who you're replying to. This was the case with the challenge ad. Within hours, I had a reply from Mark- the OWNER of the Handicapped Pets business saying I was definitely going to be contacted for an interview! My head spinning a little, I replied back that we had an interesting situation and that I had submitted a resume to his VP of Ops, but hadn't heard from her, so had continued looking for jobs elsewhere.

Two hours later, I got a phone call from both of them asking if I could come in - right now. Oh yah! I could be there in 45 minutes, sooner if I didn't take a shower (I had just been running with Jake). They laughed and said to go ahead and take my shower, show up with jeans - and extra credit would be given for dog hairs.

After a great interview, I was pretty sure I was going to be in the finals for the job. When I got home, I had the nice surprise of my husband having come home early from work. I babbled excitedly to him about the business, the coincidences that got me an interview, and how much I wanted to work in a place that holds dogs as dear to their heart as I do. We settled into making dinner and relaxing in front of the TV.

At 6:30, the phone rang. It was Kathy from Handicapped Pets! She wanted to know if I'd had time to consider their offer?!!! Kathy's pretty quick - she picked right up on my "Umm ..." that I hadn't even been aware of an offer. She told me they'd emailed me an offer earlier in the day. I told her to hang up and I'd get right to it.

The timing of the email showed me I had barely left their driveway when they drafted it. I HAD told them I haunted my email and the internet several times a day - so that was the method they'd chosen to offer me the job. Figures my husband would come home early that one day and change my habits. I accepted - with much enthusiasm, and was scheduled to start the following Monday.

I've been there three weeks now and every day I'm blown away by the number of people who call for the wheelchairs (known as Walkin Wheels™) for their dogs. My engineering mind continues to be boggled by the simplicity and quality of the design that serves a wide range of dog sizes.

Perhaps because I'm mechanically inclined, I've been able to view the wheelchair in its varied configurations and can already speak to calling customers with ease and confidence. Every day I get to sell this wheelchair to dog owners around the world, and I do so knowing I'm selling a high quality product that will change the lives of the dogs and their owners.

We take dogs that can't walk or are in great pain from spinal disorders and get them up and running again. I've personally had the pleasure of watching Nancy - the company specialist in fitting the wheelchairs - greet customers who are able to come directly to the company with their dogs, assemble a wheelchair and get a dog into it within an hour.

The owners are priceless. The looks on their face when they see their dogs - who have been dragging their hindquarters on the ground - take off in the parking lot, there's just no comparison.

What truly amazes me is that the front harness the wheelchair clips into is the same size for dogs weighing 20 pounds or 150 pounds. It's all in the adjustment of the straps. (which can then be trimmed once the fitting is established). The same is true for the mainframe of the wheelchair. The ingenious design allows the mainframe to be adjusted width, height, and length to fit the same - dogs weighing 20 pounds or 150! What makes the wheelchair unique for each dog is the combination of the struts and wheels which clip easily into the mainframe.

The company doesn't stop there. Not everyone is at the point of needing a wheelchair for their dogs, so there is a complete line of lifting harnesses, splints, wrist and hock wraps, bedding, ramps - whatever is needed to make the lives of injured or elderly dogs have every chance of living a better life with their handicap. The owners are SO grateful to find our website through referrals, ads, and even veterinarian offices who are more than eager to send them our way.

I can't wait to go to work every day. I'm getting better and faster at providing information and sales help to the dozens of callers we get every day. To be working with this great group of people is truly a dream come true.