At Work

Decked out in his jingle bell collar and Santa’s Helper bandanna, Bright Spot Therapy Dog James headed over to the nursing home to spread some holiday cheer.  His red collar jingled as he walked and his tail wagged the entire time as he made his rounds.  Everyone was expecting him – Thursday is his day!

His special friend Ruth met us in the main corridor, as she does each Thursday morning.  Here comes James, she called out as he turned the corner from the lobby.  You’re all dressed up for Christmas!  Ruth proceeded to tell us all about her Christmas plans.  My children take care of everything – they’re wonderful.  They’ll take me home for Christmas and I’ll get to see my grandchildren and they’ll make lots of good food to eat.  I’m so excited! she exclaimed, laughing and smiling  throughout her story.  And, let me tell you about Thanksgiving, she continued.  They prepared a huge feast.  It was wonderful.  I didn’t have to do a thing.  I’m so proud of my children and my grandchildren!

Before James and I continued on our rounds, Ruth looked at me and said very seriously, I hope Santa’s got something special for James – because he’s such a wonderful dog.  Then, looking at James, she said, When I see you next week James, I’ll tell you all about my Christmas.

Ruth is lucky because her family lives locally.  She will go home for the day and return to the nursing home at bedtime.  Many of the folks here have the good fortune of having family nearby and, if they are physically able, like Ruth, will go home for the holidays.  Being around family brings such joy and evokes many happy memories of holidays past.  I know they’ll all have lots to tell James next week when he visits.

From time to time, I have the great privilege of shadowing one of our Bright Spot Therapy Dog Teams as they do their visiting.  Today I met up with The Boys (as they’re called), Niles and Caber, with their owner Kevin Russell as they were entering the home of a hospice patient they have now been visiting every-other-week for over a year.

Charlotte is preparing to celebrate her 96th birthday in February.  She told me how much she loves the visits from the dogs.  I love everything about them, she said with a smile as she invited them both to join her up on her bed.  Charlotte’s oldest daughter, Christina, lives in the house with her mother watching over her.  She relies on the relief from Hospice aides that provide breaks for her to do her shopping and other errands.  She doesn’t leave when Kevin and The Boys are visiting, however.  She enjoys their visit as much as her mother does.

Niles and Caber are an exceptional pair of Golden Retrievers.  They are immensely docile.  The size of small bears, they love to cuddle and be cuddled, which Charlotte joyfully does.    In addition, Charlotte says that she really likes Kevin, too.  He’s fun to talk with, she laughed.  After Kevin and his wife, Fiona, returned from a trip to France, he brought along his laptop and played a slideshow of France for Charlotte and Christina while The Boys made themselves at home in repose on the rug.  Kevin tells me that visits may last as long as two hours, depending on how Charlotte is feeling.  During this time, mother and daughter get to laugh, and smile, and be comforted by these amazing certified Therapy Dogs.

I can tell that Lily is going to be a terrific therapy dog.  She’s got a loving, engaging personality, she adores people, and she loves to cuddle.  We continue to make “practice” visits to the nursing home that James visits every week.  I take Lily over on Sunday morning when it’s relatively quiet.  She’s a natural at the job!  She politely greets people and moves herself into position so they can pet her.  She, of course, loves the attention!

In addition to the nursing home visits, Lily is enrolled in an Intermediate Manners class at our training center, True Blue Dog Training.  It’s a small class, so she’s getting lots of practice working on name recognition, sit/down stays, recall, and loose lead walking at my side  – all with distractions.  These skills are important to master when looking to do therapy dog visiting.

Practice makes perfect… so we’ll keep working together as a team.  When I feel she’s ready, I’ll sign her up for her evaluation for therapy dog certification through Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, Inc.   

This is our 109 year old patient, Amelia….  an amazingly alert lady.  She’s lived through a lot, she told us today as she stroked James’ head which he rested in her lap.  You’re such a nice boy, so well-behaved, she whispered softly to him.  She continued to pet James and went on saying that she’s seen a lot of bad things happen in her lifetime – but I’ve seen a lot of good things, too, she was quick to add.  So many new things.

Amelia’s daughter was there visiting when James and I arrived.  She was helping her mother fold her laundry as they sat together talking.  She told me that she lives nearby and visits her mother every day.  She was pleased to learn that James comes to visit her mother.  Yes, she confirmed, mother had lots of dogs through the years.  She loves dogs.  It’s so nice to have a dog come and visit her here.

By now, James was lying down by Amelia’s feet.  He’s made himself right at home, Amelia laughed.  He likes it here.

Not wanting to intrude on the mother-daughter visit for too long, we said our good-byes and Amelia said she’d be looking forward to seeing James next week.  I’ll be here waiting! she laughed, as we headed out the door.

Today, James met his new hospice patient.  When we entered her room, Amelia was seated in a chair and talking with one of the social workers on the floor.  Her eyes set on James and she grinned.  Oh my, she said.  You’ve brought a dog to visit me.  I introduced myself and told her about James.  She had never met an English Setter before, she told me, but, went on to say that she had had lots and lots of dogs in her lifetime.  I’ve had big ones and small ones.  All different kinds.  I love dogs, she exclaimed.  The social worker asked Amelia if she could tell me her age.  Amelia replied, I think you should tell her.  Amelia, it turns out, is 109 years old!

What an alert 109 year old.  This woman is amazing.  Just think…  how much this 109 year old has lived through.   Amelia’s hearing is sharp and she can converse without any effort at all.  All the while we spoke, James sat at her side and Amelia pet his head.  You are such a handsome boy.  So soft.  Oh, I love dogs.  Thank you for coming…

I always keep our initial visit brief, 10-15 minutes.  After all, we are complete strangers at this point in time.  I told Amelia that James visits every week and that I’d bring him back to visit her, if she would like that.  Very clearly, and without hesitation, she said, Oh yes.  That would be great.  I love dogs.  Thank you…

I am happy to start another journey with a hospice patient.  It’s been several months since our last hospice patient died.  For our past hospice patients, James has provided a diversion from pain.  He has been a comforting companion.  Especially as time marches on and pain increases.  For some, he has been their only visitor.  In the final days, for some, he has been right along side them as they lay in bed.  He is just there…  quietly, patiently, lying there.  Each patient has been very different.  James knows instinctively what he needs to do for each one.  And so, he will be there for Amelia…

Today I went to observe one of our Bright Spot volunteers and her Standard Poodle working in a classroom of children with autism.  I did this because I’m looking for the right situation for my new dog Lily to visit once she becomes certified as a Therapy Dog.  I feel it’s very important to match the dog with the right population and type of facility.  Lily has an outgoing, interactive personality and I think she would work well with children.  I’m seeking to determine the correct environment.

I enjoyed observing the children interact with Tristan, the Poodle.  There are 8 children in this special needs classroom and each child has an individual aide.  When we arrived, the children were out for recess and they were brought in separately to spend one-on-one time with the dog.  Some children offered the dog a treat.  Some petted his head and ears.  Some had him shake paws.  Some stood at a distance and just looked at the dog.  One child did not want to be near the dog at all.  The volunteer Therapy Dog Team has visited 12 times now and the teacher told me that the children had made great strides in interacting with the dog.  Both the teacher and the individual aides remarked that the dog is great for the kids.

When we left the school and were standing in the parking lot talking, the father of one of the boys in the class came over and told us how much he appreciated the dog being brought in to visit with the children.  “We’d love to have a dog at home, but our son is so fearful of dogs, we can’t.  His teacher reports that he has made quite a bit of progress interacting with the dog.  This makes us feel hopeful that one day we will be able to enjoy a dog of our own and that our son will help take care of the dog.”  Again, he thanked us.

This might be a good population for Lily, but  I plan to continue checking out other facilities and populations that have requested therapy dog visitors from Bright Spot.  I highly recommend this approach to anyone starting out with a new therapy dog.  In addition, I’d like to try a new population, myself.  I’ve been visiting the elderly in nursing homes since 1992, have visited adult patients on the medical floors of hospitals, adults at mental health facilities, and folks on hospice.  Time to try something new – in addition (I’d never give up hospice or nursing home visits!).

James was scheduled to meet his new hospice patient today, but yesterday we noticed that he was limping, that his foot was swollen and he was holding it up.  I examined his paw.   It didn’t appear to be broken.  Then I felt under his paw, moving my finger around and between the pads of his paw.  There I extracted a sharp, one inch long, wooden splinter.  We have no idea how he picked it up, but it sure was painful.  The poor boy!

He rested most of the afternoon and evening.  This morning, he was doing much better, but the paw was still tender.  As much as James and I both were looking forward to getting back to hospice work again, I felt he needed an extra day of R&R.  Late this afternoon, I took him for a nice stroll (such a gorgeous day!).  I’m happy to say, he’s doing fine now.

James’ last hospice patient died in July and we hadn’t been assigned a new patient until last week.  James is so good at hospice visiting.  He knows innately what he should do to comfort a particular patient.  He’ll start up again next week.

If you’re thinking of doing therapy dog visits with your dog… it’s a good idea to seek training that is specifically geared to this type of activity before you sign your dog up to be evaluated by a registered therapy dog organization such as Bright Spot Therapy Dogs in Western Massachusetts.

That said, therapy dog training can be hard to find – at least, training by folks who have been involved themselves with therapy dog work.  This may not be the registered dog trainer who is highly skilled in training your dog in obedience and agility at all levels.  The person qualified to teach therapy dog training is someone who has been involved with this work for many years and who has trained and visited with his or her own therapy dogs in a variety of settings.

The benefits of using therapy dogs in both education and healthcare have become widely recognized in the past two decades resulting in an increased number of dog owners  interested in becoming involved with this type of work.  With this awareness has come a need – and demand – for training specific to therapy dog activities.

About four years ago, I began noticing the rapidly increasing number of people seeking therapy dog training in our area.  These were people who wanted to do it right…  get trained, then get evaluated and certified.  I decided to develop classes employing the knowledge I have gained over my 2o years of visiting with my six therapy dogs in several different types of healthcare settings that would teach people the basic seeks and techniques they need to do beginning therapy dog work   These classes proved so successful that I developed advanced training classes.   Most people end up taking both the Beginners and Advanced classes before seeking evaluation and certification for their dog.  I am very proud that people have traveled as far away as Maine to attend my classes.

If you live in New England and are looking for training, you’re in luck… we’ve just scheduled a Beginners Therapy Dog Training Workshop.   A description of the workshop can be found on the Bright Spot website (click on Training Workshops).  For registration information, go to the True Blue Dog Training website.