Allie's a natural
Posted by Anne Corke on 2008-06-21. Filed under Website Updates
When Allie came into our lives, at age 14 weeks, I knew that I wanted her do to therapy work. My long time walking partner is an oncology nurse and she has told me for years how helpful the therapy teams are, not just to the patients, but to the staff as well. We have an outstanding CPT here, so I contacted her to help me with Allie. She came to the house and worked with her a while and said she thought Allie was temperment suited for the work, but only time would tell. She started helping me with training right then. We enrolled in puppy class about three weeks later and spent many, many weeks during the next year in various classes. The dog trainer emphasised that Allie had to be socialized!
I loved the classes, nearly as much as Allie. She was in her element. We attended our first Agility class and Allie thought she was in heaven...........and she was good at it. Next came a Tricks class. The certification was when she was 16 months old and I was nervous about her passing, but she did with flying colors. My worry was that she gets very enthusiastic when she sees another dog, she is gleeful.
Our special hospital visit was when she was under two. She had been doing assisted living visits for two or three months. We were at an acute care hospital. While walking down the hall I noticed that the next room was dark, the drapes drawn, which is unusual. As we entered the room I saw a sign declaring that the patient was unsighted. After introducing ourselves he stated that he had a seeing eye dog and another dog at home. He was a young man, very big with a full beard. I noticed his huge hands. He was on a morphine pump, so I knew he was in pain. I have taught Allie "paws up" so she can visit without jumping on the bed. He asked me to put her on the bed, and I replied that she weighed 30 pounds; he wanted her anyway. She has never done this with me or my husband so I was surprised when she jumped up and melted into him. She had her nose gently nudging his beard and her feet around his knees. Our rules require that I keep my hand on the leash, but I stepped back slightly; it was as if no one else was in the room. One of the staff called in a couple of other nurses to watch what was happening. He gently felt her face, ears and started down her back with his huge hands. I started to tell him that she doesn't like her tail touched, but didn't. He ran one hand up her tail and then the other, she didn't flinch! There wasn't a dry eye in the room.
We tried to visit him two more times, but the staff was working with him and we couldn't. I saw a couple of weeks later that he had died. I was so pleased that Allie had brought those moments of joy to him. I asked the dog trainer what it is that happened? She said it is the MAGIC. Needless to say, we love this special girl. Allie is now four years old and has developed quite a following. As we walk down the hospital halls, from the front desk to our exit, people call out "here comes Allie".
Marilyn Stephens,
from Kerry Blue Foundation Newslist
June 15, 2008