We haven’t posted about a therapy shift in quite a while, so it is probably time 🙂 Indy had two back-to-back shifts yesterday and today and there were certainly moments that took our breath away.
We are consistently in awe of Indy’s special ability to soothe kids…certainly he comes by it honestly (his Dad Barry has produced over a dozen therapy dogs) but it IS pretty remarkable to see a Vizsla in such a calm situation. There are several nurses on the 8th & 9th floor of the hospital that have Vizslas, and every time they see us, they comment that their Vizsla could never be calm enough to volunteer at the hospital. We are so lucky that Indy and Karma both “get it” and that we have the time to volunteer in this special capacity. Some of the stories below will help you understand the impact a dog can have on an otherwise pretty crappy situation.
We have a bunch of favorite stories from the last three days, but we will limit it to three so this doesn’t turn into a novel 🙂
-Upon entering one room, we saw a whole family eagerly ask for a pet visit. The patient leapt off her bed and came running over to Indy and threw her arms around his neck. (This is exactly the kind of situation we train for…hugging is a primate behavior, not a canine one. We spend a lot of time hugging our pups so they come to enjoy this practice.) She was having a whole conversation…”This is the best dog in the whole world.” “Oooh, he smells so good! Like a cookie!” “He has the softest ears!” And other cute little comments as she stroked his ears and pet his back. Then as she was getting ready to say goodbye, she gave him another hug and nuzzled into his neck as she told her Mom, “I’m so glad I had a seizure now, because it meant I got to meet Indy.” Yeah. Can you imagine? If I had an award for finding the silver lining in every cloud, this little girl would have received it.
-In the next wing, we knocked on the door of a little boy and his Mom. His eyes totally lit up when he saw Indy and his Mom said he would love a pet visit. Indy went in and did his routine and the little boy was SO chatty. Told us about his dog asked questions about where Indy lives (it really is funny that all the kids think the dogs live in the hospital) and what he likes to do. His Mom asked if she could take a picture, so Indy obliged and did some very handsome posing with the little boy. Then the Mom encouraged her son to get out of bed and pet him, so he did, and Jenny showed him how to do all of Indy’s tricks. We were just closing the door behind us when the Mom popped out and gave Jenny a huge hug. Turns out her son hadn’t spoken ALL day and he had been refusing to get out of bed. She was so appreciative that Indy had lit such a spark in him 🙂
-This last one is really sad. So feel free to skip and end on a happy note…but it goes to show that our dogs are not only gifted at brightening our day, but steadfast enough for our grief too. We were on our way out when we had an old man come up and ask if he could just have a moment with Indy. Jenny told him absolutely, and watched as this man looked into Indy’s eyes and scratched him behind his ears. Indy offered a kiss on his cheek and the man gave a little chuckle and continued to pet him and tell him what a good boy he was. After a few minutes, the man stood back up and thanked Jenny. He then went on to say that they were getting ready to take his granddaughter off life support and she would never know how much he needed that moment with Indy. Gut wrenching. But I’m thankful we chose to walk out that way and give him some extra compassion.
It’s nights like this that remind us how little we give and how much we receive. If you haven’t yet found a cause you are passionate about…we encourage some soul searching. In our experience, you may carve out just a few hours of your month and make someone’s entire day so much better.