Shadow had an awesome visit at the Senior Center today. There's a lady in the Adult Day Services Program who is extremely withdrawn, yet today Shadow drew her out. He sat patiently, with his paw on her knee while she was putting her fingers in his mouth! She held his leash and touched him. She fed him dog biscuits. She made eye contact with me and SMILED! One staff worker said she'd never seen this woman smile before! It was INCREDIBLE! And Shad knew it too!
One of our friends was not at the Senior Center when we visited today. He's now in a Progressive Care Unit in a hospital. With the help of the staff at the Senior Center, I was able to take Shadow to the hospital to visit him, although therapy animals usually are not allowed in that unit.
In training him, I'd forgotten to use elevators, but Shadow did fine. And our patient was pleased that we'd made the extra effort to see him.
This is the hardest part for me. Saying good-bye to the wonderful people we meet in our therapy visits.
A friend wrote this to me, "It is sad that a major part of therapy work consists of making peoples' last days more pleasant. But though it is sad, it must be very rewarding too. They are so very lucky to have you and Shadow ... he is gorgeous as well as talented!"
I am reminding myself that she is right.
Today we met a lady who was just moving into the assisted living wing. She was disappointed that she could not live in her own apartment any longer. But the visit from Shadow and the other therapy dogs lifted her spirits.
It was fun to watch her interact with Shad. He put his nose up by her face and snuffled her hair while she laughed and hugged his neck. What fun!
Today was interesting ... I accompanied TWO Tervuren to the senior center for visitation. Our additional visitor was a 10-year-old Terv called Seamus. It was interesting to see the way the seniors related to his cataracts and gray muzzle and sympathized with his shaky hips! I have gained a new insight, a different perspective from the response Shadow the puppy receives each week!
I am in DC visiting my sister, which is wonderful, but I cannot believe how much I miss Shadow! I actually ache. But this has provided me the rare opportunity to experiece how our work as therapy visitors helps ... I stumbled upon a wonderful working dog named Cheryl while visiting a lovely public garden. Just petting this pretty girl eased my loneliness for Shadow and made me smile. How lucky I am to have another new perspective!