Wagging tails can mend bodies, hearts, and minds

Below are excerpts from an article in the online newsletter from the Medical Center where I work. It really touched my heart. From time to time, I have seen these dogs "in action" at the hospital.

Taylor Lacey turns heads when she walks through the corridors of Strong Memorial Hospital on Wednesdays sporting a cute, maroon Friends of Strong bandanna and hospital I.D. Even though she's only 3, Taylor knows her way around the Hospital and is there to get down to business – providing unconditional acceptance and friendship to those most in need.

Taylor is one of 12 therapy dogs in the Strong P.E.T.S. (Pets Engaged in Therapeutic Socialization) pet therapy program. She and eleven canine colleagues – Billy, Kendall, Eile, Sam, Riley, Mandy, Yankee, Trella, Dar, Ransom and Ranger – take turns visiting select units guided by their handlers, offering a distraction from the stress of hospitalization and actively participating in rehabilitation.

Volunteer supervisor for Strong P.E.T.S. and Taylor’s owner, Ann Lacey, said, “People tell us we’ve the best job in the world, and I agree. We have all had so many wonderful experiences – I recently visited a patient with Alzheimer’s who was generally unresponsive, but when she saw Ransom and Kendall, she spent the morning stroking and petting them and talking about the dogs she had when she was younger. Her daughter said, ‘you brought my mother back to life.’”

Data on the health benefits of dogs abound: one Japanese study found pet owners made 30 percent fewer visits to doctors. An Australian study of 6,000 people showed that owners of dogs and other pets had lower cholesterol, blood pressure and heart attack risk compared with people who didn’t have pets.

Animal-assisted therapy began at Strong in the early 90s, when senior recreation therapist Anita Burton heard about the healing benefits of having dogs visit patients. She later approached Friends of Strong director Louise Criticos, who made the volunteer program happen. Lacey and her Sheltie, Rickey, were drafted to start the program. Rickey soon became known as “Dr. Rickey” because of his near-magical ability to make hurting people feel better. He spent the next 12 years of his life working at Strong up until the week before he died.

Wondering whether your dog could be a therapy dog? Perhaps, but not without training and testing. Animals and their handlers must conform to N.Y.S. Department of Health Guidelines for Animals in Hospitals and pass a vet screening exam and further training that tests their ability under a variety of situations – they must remain calm around loud noises, occasional jostling and crowds, and must also tolerate enthusiastic hugging, laughter, and often, tears. Dogs at Strong also work with stroke and paralyzed patients – reaching out to pet a dog is a great way to get a patient to move stiff fingers.

Lacey continued, “Dogs can help patients cope by taking their mind off of the pain. I remember visiting one little girl who had just asked for pain medication. After meeting Taylor, she said, ‘I don’t hurt anymore.’”