Hi! My name is Sharon Boselli and my dog is Ziggy! We are so excited to be a part of High Desert Therapy Dogs. I am a native New Mexican - born in Farmington and raised in Belen. Except for a short period of time back in the ‘70’s, I have lived in the Albuquerque area my entire life. I love to travel and see the world, but nothing beats coming home to New Mexico!

I am a retired RN, and I began my nursing career at Presbyterian Hospital (Downtown) and worked in the ER, ICU and SAC many years ago. I decided that hospital work was not where I really wanted to be and changed career directions dramatically when I accepted a school nurse position at Albuquerque Academy. I never looked back and enjoyed my work at the Academy for almost twenty years. When I retired from Academy, I took some time off and then started working part time for SWGI (Southwest Gasteroenterology) at their endoscopy center. I fully retired in 2020 when all the craziness of Covid began. I loved being a nurse but have decided to hang up my nursing cap and am now spending my time gardening, traveling, hiking, doing Yoga and Pilates, and volunteering. Besides being in HDTD, I also volunteer for Presbyterian’s NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) once a week.

My husband (Tom) and I have four daughters and seven grandchildren. Two daughters live here in Albuquerque with their families (four grandkids - two girls and two boys), and one daughter lives in Carson City, Nevada (two grandkids - one boy and one girl). The other daughter lives outside of Chicago in a small town called Fox Lake and has one daughter. The grandkids range in age from twenty-two to two years of age, which keeps us pretty busy as they grow and go out into the world! We are so very blessed to have an amazing family to share our lives with!

Ziggy is a thirteen-year-old male Australian Shepherd/Border Collie cross. We brought him into our family from a farm outside of Mora, NM. He was an adorable, rambunctious puppy who kept us very busy. Thankfully, we live on a property that has allowed him to run and explore! This property is his domain, and his job is to protect it (at least that’s what he thinks)! When he was younger his most favorite thing to do, besides patrolling the property for skunks, raccoons, and coyotes, was to run and catch a frisbee. He was tireless!

But as he has aged, he has developed some significant spinal arthritis/stenosis which doesn’t allow him to play frisbee. He still is our valiant protector, though, and continues to patrol our property dutifully. Having been around children since he was a puppy, he is accustomed to the antics of kids and is very patient around them. He does like to steal their shoes, socks, and toys when they are left unattended, but he has yet to destroy anything he steals. He just carries it away and waits until someone notices he has it in his mouth and then makes you chase after him to get it back! He loves having the kids chase after him. That’s one of his favorite tricks now!