Lakeview Seniors Pet Therapy

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, March 11, 2013; 6:15-7:45 pm

I arrived well before the start of the program, partly because I wanted to play with the dogs before our evening commenced.  What I found was that while the dogs were missing, Emma was at her Bingo table, ready to score some prizes.  I pulled up a chair to chat with her, knowing fully that it was unlikely that she would remember me.  I mentioned that I was there, not to play Bingo, but rather for the ‘Pet Therapy’ program.  At this she started talking about her favorite topic, her daughter. Well, I guess it is her second favorite topic after her hometown of St. Louis.  She mentioned that her daughter had a dog, though she couldn't remember its name.  She also mentioned that her daughter was good at Bingo, though to me it’s always been about luck.  I asked Emma if she had a favorite number and she said it was 2.  I looked at the cards in front of her and there weren't, many 2’s.  There were some 3’s though and when I pointed that out, she said “Three works as well”.  Aah Emma, always nice and accommodating. 

Ready to go!

General commotion around us announced the arrival of the dogs.  Our volunteer leader Sam, along with his wife Jess, own two dogs – Shane and Chloe.  Some of the other dogs were a cute little thing called Leia, Rex, Bruce and June, some of whom I had seen earlier.  I was stunned to learn that Bruce is blind, and has been so for the past 6 years.  The way he conducts himself at these events is remarkable.  I was paired with Jess and Chloe and we were ready to begin.

Chloe was in a whiny mood and Jess was carrying a bag of treats to keep Chloe happy.  I asked Jess what the problem was and she said that Chloe was just missing her ‘brother’ Shane.  Jess has owned Chloe since Chloe was 6 weeks old while Sam has owned Shane since Shane was 3 years old.  When Jess and Sam met, they already had their dogs and since their marriage, the two dogs have also been inseparable - albeit very platonic, according to Jess.  She mentioned that Chloe was a Collie-Shepherd mix and that she had enrolled both of them in ‘herding’ classes in April to see if Chloe was true to her partial breed.

Leia

As is usually the norm, being a non-pet owner, it was my duty to knock on each door and ask if the residents wanted to pet a dog; though Jess having done this several times knew exactly where we should be going.  We started with a resident Jonathan, who was recovering from an operation to his leg, though he loves dogs and was delighted to have Chloe visit him.  Next up was Jean, who knows Jess and Chloe very well.  They caught up about everything that has happened since Jess’s previous visit.  Jean likes her chewing gun and asked Jess if she could get her some sugar-free variety if she gave Jess some money.  Jess refused the money saying,“It is the least we can do”.  

This request for gum prompted Jess to tell me a funny story after we had left Jean’s room.  It seems on that very afternoon, while Jess’s attention was diverted, Shane – who is diabetic – got into the brown sugar jar and when Jess spotted him, there was a big lump of sugar in his mouth.  Jess told us about another time when Shane had torn one of the ligaments in his leg and was required to take supplement while it healed.  Sam and Jess used to ‘hide’ it in his food, but Shane used to find them and spit it out.  The best part was that Chloe liked those peanut butter flavored supplements and used to know exactly when and where to stand in order to get it.  Another story was when Jess got Shane and Chloe beds, Shane’s being bigger due to his size.  The next morning they saw that Chloe was comfortably asleep in the bigger bed while poor Shane was struggling in the smaller one.  No matter what the species, seems like females know how to get their way!

Chloe

Jess was great at telling stories such as these and we soon ran into Ruby in the hallway.  From my past experience I knew two things about Ruby: (1) She loves dogs and always has a treat for them and (b) She wears the most brilliant purple slippers.  Both of these things were evident and after chatting with her for some time, we moved on and saw Luke in the hallway as well.  Luke told us that while he likes lapdogs, he was happy to see Chloe.  He liked her even more after she performed some tricks, one of which involved Jess putting a treat on her nose and Chloe flicking her neck to catch it in the air and gobble.  After a couple of other tricks, we moved on to see Loritta, who is an avid dog lover, especially big dogs.  I had mentioned to Jess that I was looking to get a puppy and not only was she encouraging and advising me all the time, she was also telling the residents.  Loritta talked about dog ownership and we left after seeing pictures of her three grand kids. 

After a visit with Gloria, we finally ended up in Jerry’s room; that as I have mentioned previously, has the best decor and welcoming environment.  Perhaps it was that or the familiarity, but Chloe was really excited to be there and jumped up to play with him.  This was the most excited that we had seen her this evening.  We spend some time with Jerry and then it was time to go.  Jim and Jane, who call the Bingo games, had also come to chat with Jerry and Jim told me that while Emma did not win, someone else had offered her a prize.  I went down and saw Emma was admiring a pack of strawberry cookies and kept saying that they are really good.  I dropped her  in the same spot as before, alone with her thoughts, and came back down to find Sam, Jess, Wilson and Fran were gathered around, talking about the evening. 

And this is Shane

Wilson offered me a ride home and when we reached the parking lot, we saw one of the volunteer and her dog locked out of her car.  Wilson said if it was okay with me, he would take her home, and then drive her back to pick up her car.  Looks like Superman was on the case. Since his car is full of other stuff, there was no place for me. Later that evening when I was close to my apartment, Wilson called to check where I was and if I still needed a ride. What can I say!

Sam wrote to me saying that he had heard from Jess that I was looking to get a puppy and gave me some advice, all positive.  I reminded him and Jess to take gum for Jean and also sent them a story which made me think of their family, including Chloe and Shane.  It had been another fun evening and besides meeting the residents, the best part for me was spending time with Chloe and seeing her get excited when Shane would approach down the corridor and go back into a funk when we headed in different rooms.  My friend Jen tells me that animal's, like human's, also bond - sometimes for life.  Tonight, I had probably seen that for myself.

*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy