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Therapy Pet Pals of Texas |
| On a Short Leash |
When these helpful pets make a house call, their good bedside manners are just what the doctor ordered.
By Janet Heimlich
Photography by Will Overbeek
January 2008 Health & Beauty TRIBEZA
Although he's getting on in years, Patrick never misses a chance to visit the Retirement and Nursing Center in North Austin, and he's a very familiar face here. Entering through the back door, he saunters down the hall, looking for anyone who might want to spend a little time with him. He eagerly walks up to people sitting in wheelchairs, his soft brown eyes meeting their gaze. Often he receives a freindly pat on the head, and if he's lucky, a few stray crumbs from someone's lap.
Patrick is a 10-year-old bearded collie, on of more than 200 pets that visit nursing homes, hospitals, and other facilities as part of Therapy Pet Pals of Texas. The nonprofit organization trains volunteers who bring in their dogs - and the occasional cat that can tolerate a leash - to visit with elderly and sick patients.
Today, Patrick noses the lap of 98-year-old Edith Stromberg, who sits in a wheelchair. She slowly extends a shaky hand to stroke his long black and white fur. "I like dogs," she says with a smile. "I'm a dog person." Stromberg regrets no longer being able to care for a pet. "Dogs are faithful. They'll stick by you."
Therapy Pet Pals began in 1984 when its founder, Kathryn Lashmit, started taking her Pekingese into nursing homes. After other volunteers joined in and the media caught wind of the project, the organization grew. Now it trains nearly 200 volunteers in Austin and Houston, who visit more than 80 facilities.
"We serve the fogotten people of our society," says TPPT's deputy director, Kathy Grosch.
The organization is careful about selecting volunteers and pets. Owners must have had their animals for at least a year. They go through a two-hour class, during which time the pets are evaluated to make sure they have the proper disposition.
"Someone in a nursing home is not usually dog-savvy, and they sometimes don't have control, so you have to have a dog that can take this," says Grosch. "Not every dog has the temperament, and that is the most important thing."
The animals must by up to date on all their shots and must have had a bath within 24 hours of a visit. (for Patrick, whose hair is nearly a foot long, that's a three-hour process.) Volunteers and pets are then assigned to a facility, and a trainer accompanies them on at least three initial visits.
Grosch says these first visits help to acclimate people who are not used to the emaotional demands of visiting a nursing home. TPPT requires volunteers to make at least two visits a month, and residents can get attached to the dogs. Grosch notes that the assisted-living facility she visits rearranges bath schedules to make sure residents are free to spend time with her poodle. "It's a commitment. We are based on bonding. We don't just show up now and then. We get to know thse people."
Patrick and his owner, Gretchen Blackburn, have been coming to the Retirement and Nursing Center for eight year. Most of the time, she is following him on his required leash, but she has learned to be watchful. While some patients make it clear that they don't want a canine visitor, she must gauge the reactions of othersto be sure they remain comfortable. She also looks out for Patrick. If he's sniffing something that might hurt him, like a pill, she gives the "leave it" command.
Blackburn says Patrick makes the job easier than if she came alone. "He's my icebreaker. When I see him go up to someone in a wheelchair and they start smiling, you just can't know the value of that. Half the time, the residents don't even know I'm there." She says Patrick has taught her a lot about compassion, because he loves everyone unconditionally. "He justs wants to be next to them."
Of course, it's devastating when a patient dies. Blackburn misses a woman she and Patrick got to know well. The resident was 95 an in fairly good health, so when she died five years ago, it came as a shock. On every visit, Patrick still insists on sniffing arund the room that she occupied.
But even with the difficulities, Blackburn feels good about her work. Animals can have a remarkable influence on the infirm. A recent study shows that heart patients' blood pressure and anxiety levels decrease after spending time with a dog, even more than when they are visited by a human volunteer.
The Retirement and Nursing Center activity coordinator, Donna Shelton, says she has seen profound changes in patients when a Pet Pal is near. "You'll get responses sometimes from folks who don't respond much to anything. It's so wonderful to see that brightness in their eyes as they reach out for a pet." Both blackburn and Grosch say they have seen non-responsive patients "wake up" after seeing or touching the dogs. "You just bring so much joy to these people that it's worth it," says Grosch.
In fact, there are many more facilities asking Therapy Pet Pals for visits than its volunteers can accommodate. Recently, St. David's Hospital requested that Pet Pals come into its intensive care unit. "It's probably as much for the nurses and doctors as it is for the patients," says Grosch, noting how stressful those jobs can be.
At the Retirement and Nursing Center, resident and animal lover Ann Allen is thrilled to have made Patrick's acquaintance. "You always want something to cuddle, and we all need something to touch besides nurses."
Before heading home, Patrick catches up with his longtime friend Pris Steele, who just lost her sister, her last remaining relative. Steele's speech an movements have been slowed by a stroke, but her eyes shine lovingly at her loyal visitor as she sits in her wheelchair. "He's my bussy," she says, touching Patrick's head. "My bud, my bud, my bud."
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