Pet Therapy

Eyes turn as we walk down the hall together into the ward of the hospi­tal. The eyes are full of questions, curiosity, love and then a smile, a word, a greeting. My dog Brisney and I have come to visit patients, to share stories, to talk about their lives, to share things in life that we have in common which mostly begins with animals. It is an interchange between strangers, yet we bond because of this one common link.

Brisney is an 11 -year old Australian Shepherd who has gone to the hospi­tal with me twice a week over the past five years. She has brought joy into many lives and unconditional love to strangers who are ill. For me, well, it has opened up a new world and taught me many lessons.

Getting started

People often ask me how I got into pet therapy. I had wanted to do something to be helpful outside the home and began by taking classes to teach people to read. Following the classes, time passed and I was not as­signed a person to help. About that time, another sister told me about taking her dog to the local hospital and the response she received. As I listened, I thought it was a wonderful idea and I felt I had the best dog for that type of work So it began. I worked with this sister for about a year and then called the large local hospital to see if they had such a program; they had just started one and I was the second volunteer.

An amazing response

I wish I had kept a book of the events that have taken place in the past five years and the joy I have received from volunteering. When I started, I didn’t realize the rewards and benefits I would receive from just walking into a room and saying, “Hello, would you like to see my dog?”

There have been many emotional experiences such as seeing the patients in the locked mental ward get down and cry as they caress the dog or the joy that comes into their faces as they throw the ball for her to chase and bring back to them Troubled teenagers who are victims of abuse or in for drug addiction or depression were helped, they would say nothing to me but would openly respond to the dog because she is someone they can trust, who does not judge them.

Elderly patients are a joy Their faces light up with a smile or some cry with delight as we walk into the room They share with me the love they have for their animal or how much they miss him as they have been in the hospital a long time I remember the stroke victim who would not talk for 30 minutes to the speech therapist, but as we entered the room said, “dog” and her face lit up with a large smile.

Remembered, too, are the families who sat outside the intensive care unit, upset and stressed, who stroked Brisney and shared their pain and fears The terminally ill cancer patient, too ill to talk, had the dog he beside him to pet and make him forget, if but for a moment, his pain You can never predict the response of small children, in their innocence they may charge up to Brisney with enthusiasm or stand away and observe until they feel comfortable to approach and pet her.

Brisney is slowing down now — she has developed arthritis in her back — but she is still energetic and we continue on a slower pace one day a week to visit patients There will come a time we will have to “retire,” and she will be missed.