Today's Trip to the Nursing Home

Today was our regular day to visit the nursing home.  It was a good visit.  Isaac has a routine down there now.

First we got to visit his friend Sue.  We go there first because she has treats for him.  She was especially excited to see him today because she had seen her sister over the weekend and gotten some treats from her sister to give Isaac.  Until now, she's been giving him the treats I brought her for that purpose.  But today, she had some milk bones and she had one "special treat," which was shaped like a little steak and supposed to be steak-flavored.  Before we got to her room, one of the nurses stopped me to tell me to make sure we stopped in to see her.  I guess she'd been telling the staff about how she had special treats for Isaac.  So we went there first, like we always do, and Isaac got quite a few treats.

Then we went on to visit other residents.  We saw his friend Edith, who usually sings to him and loves to feed him treats.  She was having a bad day today, though.  She was crying.  She was the saddest I've seen her since the first time we saw her.  I don't know why she was crying, because she doesn't really communicate.  She doesn't talk, anyway.  She was able to communicate the fact that she was very sad just fine, but not able to communicate why.  She was eager to pet Isaac, though.  She didn't sing to him and didn't cheer up at all when I let her feed him some treats, but she did seem to be comforted, at least a little, by petting him.  She pet him for a long time.

We were visiting another resident in the dementia unit and he said, "Hi, Doggie," several times.  A couple nurses were standing nearby watching and were surprised that he spoke to Isaac and that he made sense.  Apparently he rarely talks and even more rarely says things that make sense.

It was a good therapy dog day.

Therapy Dog Ready for Work

Great Day at the Nursing Home

Today was our regular day volunteering at the nursing home and it was a great day.

Other than when I stepped in a puddle of urine with my sandaled foot.  Because ick.

But other than that, it was a great day.

We visited a resident I will call Edith, whom we've visited a couple times before.  The first time, she petted Isaac for a long time and cried and cried while she petted him.  She didn't talk, but babbled a lot, no words I could make out.  She didn't respond to me at all, just to Isaac.  The second time, she didn't cry, but still didn't talk, didn't respond to me at all, just petted Isaac for a long time and babbled some.  She looked sad.

Today, she looked happy to see Isaac.  This is the first time I've seen her look happy.  She petted him and stroked his face really gently and lovingly.  She was babbling, no words I could make out, but then she started to croon to Isaac.  It was like you would sing to a baby.  Still no words I could understand, but definitely singing.  It was beautiful.  I said to her, "I think you really love dogs," and then she looked at me as if she was surprised and said, clear as day, "Yes!"  I was delighted. 

I fished a treat out of my pocket for her to give to Isaac and helped her open her hand flat and placed the treat on her open palm.  Isaac gobbled it up, leaving her hand slick with doggie slobber.  And she laughed.  Loudly.  She looked so delighted.  She looked at her slobbery hand, looked at me, looked at Isaac, and laughed again.  I wiped some of the dog spit off her hand with my own hand, laughing too.

Then, with her other hand, she pointed at her palm.  She was clearly asking for another treat to give Isaac.  I understand her perfectly.  I got out another treat.

One of the housekeepers was walking by and heard her laughing and came to see what was going on.  I told her how Edith had been singing to Isaac and how she'd said yes, she loves dogs, and how she's asked for another treat to give him.  Then I handed her one more treat, just so the housekeeper could see.  It was such a lovely thing to see.

I wanted to stay there all day, engaging Edith.  It was so beautiful, so incredible, that she was responding like that.  That is why I want to do therapy dog work with Isaac.

It was a good day in other ways, as well.  We visited Dorothy, the woman Isaac kissed on the nose the first day we met her.  He did not kiss her today but she told the residents sitting near her, "Sometimes he gives kisses right here," and pointed to her nose.  I love it that she still remembers how he kissed her and that she loved it so much.

There were two residents in the dementia unit that remembered Isaac's name.  That surprised me.  And pleased me.  It was a really nice day.

Listening with Doggie Ears

Today was our regular day volunteering at the nursing home.

And here's a picture of Isaac dressed for work in his new bandana.  Cute, isn't he?

Today while at the nursing home, and afterward, I was thinking about the issue of consent and how Isaac and I communicate with the nursing home residents, particularly those that aren't able to communicate real clearly verbally.

One thing I always try to do is to get a resident's consent before bringing Isaac into their room or before bringing him real close to them, before letting him sniff them, before letting him kiss them, before letting him put his paws up on the arm of their chair or on their bed, before letting him jump up on their bed, and so on.  While many of the residents love him, I know not everyone likes dogs (Isaac does not know that, though, so shhh!  Don't tell him).  Some people are afraid of dogs.  Some are happy to pet a dog but don't want to be licked by a dog.  Some of the residents like dogs but sometimes they may not feel well or may be tired or in pain or may be busy doing something else and just not want to pet him at that very moment.

Plus, it's just part of being respectful.  I don't think nursing home residents generally get  a lot of privacy, they often have people intruding in their personal space (which may be necessary if they need a lot of help with personal hygiene and stuff, but it's still an intrusion in some sense, I think), they don't get to make a lot of choices or exercise a lot of control over their environment, and I want their experience with Isaac, and with me, to be different from all of that.

So if someone is in the dining room, I stop a short distance from them and ask "Do you want to pet the dog?"  If someone is in their room, I knock on the door (even if it's open) and ask if they want to pet the dog.  There are some people that I know always want to pet the dog, but I still knock before entering their rooms or greet them from a short distance away and make sure they want a visit from Isaac today.  With some of those people, I don't really have to ask if they want to pet Isaac because as soon as they see us coming, they call out to him or beckon him over to them.  But in general, I ask.  And if I think they could reach him better if he put his paws up on the arm of their chair, I ask if it's OK for him to do that.  And so on.

But how do you get consent if someone doesn't speak?  Or doesn't make sense when they speak?

I've realized that Isaac has gotten better at reading signals from people.  He is still certain everyone loves him and wants to be his bestest friend, but he no longer seems to believe they all want to be kissed on the lips by him.

Dogs rely a lot on body language, though, and tone of voice.  Isaac listens to those things more than to the words someone says.  When we still lived with Mike, Mike would tell him to lie down or leave something alone, but Isaac wouldn't do what Mike told him to do.  Mike didn't know why.  I knew why, though, and I tried to explain it to Mike.  The problem was that Mike said "leave it" in the same tone of voice you would say "come on, let's play!"  Mike said "down" in the same tone of voice you would use to say "good doggie, I want to pet you!"  Isaac responded to the tone of voice, not to  his words.

I've found that if I listen with doggie ears, or pay attention to things like tone of voice and body language, I can get a pretty good idea of what people are saying or trying to say.  I can tell if they want Isaac to come closer or if they don't want him to come closer.  I can tell if they are happy he is near them or if they would maybe prefer to be left alone.

I may not be perfect at interpreting these things.  But it seems to be working pretty well so far.

Dog Day at the Nursing Home

Isaac and I visited the nursing home this morning.

As we were walking from the car to the front door, as Isaac stopped to pee on a tree in front of the home, his friend Millie saw him from her window and began rapping on the window and waving excitedly at us.  I waved back and made sure her room was one of our first stops.  Isaac loves Millie and she loves him.  She chatters to me about her dog, which she says is a little dog but she can't remember what kind.  I'm not sure if the dog is still living and maybe staying with a relative now that she's in the nursing home or if this is a dog she used to have that has died at some time in the past.  I'm not sure Millie knows herself.  When she talks, she only kind of makes sense.  I can tell she is talking about her dog, or talking about Isaac, and I get the gist of what she's saying but it's hard to make out a lot of actual facts.  Which is OK.  I just listen and encourage her to talk, and the whole time she is petting Isaac and loving on him. 

At one point she firmly took Isaac's leash from my hand and held it to her chest, as if to indicate she would just keep him there with her.  She startled me a little, she took the leash so quickly and firmly.  I understood what she was trying to say, though, and said something like, "He could just stay here with you, couldn't he?"  After a minute, she handed the leash back to me.

Later, as we were getting ready to leave the nursing home, we passed the dining room and saw Millie seated at her regular table there, waiting for lunch to be served.  I went over to her and said, "Isaac wanted to say goodbye again," which delighted her.  Then she got up, took hold of Isaac's leash, and clearly wanted to go across the room to see someone else.  So I went with her, letting her hold Isaac's leash but holding it myself, too.  She was having trouble telling me what she wanted or who she wanted to see, but I could tell what she wanted.  Millie's husband is also a resident of the nursing home, but he eats lunch at a different table.  I don't know why.  They do share a room.  It turned out to be him that she wanted to take Isaac over to.  She wanted him to see Isaac.  I've never heard him talk but he smiled and patted Isaac on the head.  Millie was clearly happy to have shown Isaac to him.

We visited Isaac's friend Sue, who is always waiting for him when we arrive.  I think I'm going to pick up a bag of dog treats to leave with her to give him when we visit.  Every time we see her, she says something like, "I need to have my son pick up some dog treats for me" or "I meant to get my son to bring me some dog treats."  I don't think her son visits that often, though.  I always have some treats in my pocket and I give her one to give to him when she says that, but I think she'd like to have some to keep there for him.

We visited another women, who I'll call Edith.  We hadn't ever seen her before.  I'm not sure if she is a new resident or why we hadn't seen her before.  I couldn't get her to talk to me but she loved petting Isaac.  She looked very sad, kind of tearful, and was making a kind of babbling noise but didn't say any actual words.  She petted Isaac for a long time, though.  She clearly enjoyed petting him.  I want to make sure we see her again next time we visit.

There is a man that is always in the dining room when we visit.  I forget his name.  He loves Isaac and when he sees him coming into the dining room, he yells, "It's Isaac!  Hey everyone, Isaac is here!"  Today he had a package of Oreos and wanted to give Isaac one.  I let him.  I know, Oreos are not really good for dogs.  Chocolate is not good for dogs.  I figured one Oreo would not really hurt him, though.  And this guy really wanted to give him a cookie.  Isaac, of course, loved it.  After gobbling it up, he licked the crumbs off the floor.

As usual, the staff always enjoyed seeing Isaac.  There was a maintenance guy that stopped us and asked if he could pet Isaac and I said of course.  He then plopped down on the floor and had Isaac in his lap, licking his face and snuggling up to him.

A Therapy Dog Story

Isaac and I are continuing to enjoy our visits to the nursing home.  There are now a number of residents that know and remember his name and recognize him when he arrives.  I don't think any of them know my name and in fact, I bet someone else could take Isaac to the nursing home and they probably wouldn't even notice it was someone other than me there with him!  But they know Isaac.  And that's just fine with me.

One of Isaac's special friends there is named Millie (that's what I'm calling her, anyway).  This week, like last week, she was in bed resting when we arrived.  I knocked on the wall next to her open door but she didn't stir.  I was pretty sure she wouldn't want to miss our visit, though, so I went over to her bed and called her name.  She stirred, and then, to my surprise, Isaac jumped up onto her bed.

Last week, I'd asked her if it was OK for him to get on her bed and she'd been delighted and said oh yes.  I think he remembered that and figured he was allowed to get up there this week, too.  I would have preferred he wait to be given permission, and he and I will continue to work on that.  But Millie was thrilled to suddenly discover a doggie in her bed.

Isaac lay down beside her and she hugged him and cuddled him and petted him and talked to him.  She was so happy to have him there.  A couple times a staff person walked by the room in the hallway and Millie called out to them, wanting them to come and see the dog in bed with her.  She was just so excited about it.  And none of the staff seemed to have any problem at all with the dog in bed with her, which was good.

Lap, Paws Up and Jump

Isaac and I have been working on and practicing three commands, which I mostly want him to know for when we visit residents at the nursing home.  I mean, they are good commands for him to know other places, too.  But I think they are particularly useful for when he's being a therapy dog.

"Lap" means he puts his head in someone's lap.  Like, he is standing in front of or beside them, and puts his had in their lap, which makes it very easy to pet him.  He is good at doing lap with me but not so good at doing it with other people, because we just haven't had the opportunity to practice much with other people.  I need to recruit some of my neighbors to let Isaac practice on them.

To teach him "lap," I simply held a treat in such a position that he had to put his head in my lap in order to get the treat, and when he did, said "lap" and gave him the treat and told him "good boy!"  Initially he only put his head in my lap long enough to get the treat, of course.  After he did it instantly and reliably when I had a treat in position, I started giving him the command without holding a treat in my lap.  He would do it, but only for an instance.  I gave him a treat and told him "good boy!"  And then, after a while, I started requiring him to keep his head there a few seconds longer in order to get the treat.

I actually taught Isaac "paws up" a while ago and he will do paws up in my lap, on the side of a chair or bed, even on the bumper of my car.  Basically wherever I point.  I taught him paws up mainly so I could give him a command to do that when people want him to and so he would quit doing it when people don't want him to.  And I taught him "off" at the same time.

However, a few weeks ago at the nursing home, when I told Isaac to do "paws up" on a woman's bed, he jumped up into bed with her instead.  I definitely don't want him doing that.  I mean, it's fine with me if he gets in bed with a resident if they say it's OK, but I don't want him doing it when I just told him to do "paws up" and I haven't asked the resident if he can get on the bed with them.  So I decided I needed a command that meant for him to get up on the bed and I decided it should not be "up" or "get up" or anything that might sound too much like "paws up" because I want him to be clear about the difference between the two.  So I settled on jump.

We have been practicing doing "paws up" and "jump" so Isaac gets to pay attention to exactly what he's being told to do.  We've been practicing it on my bed and also on the couch.  He thinks it's fun.

By the way, I wasn't sure how the nursing home staff would feel about Isaac getting on residents' beds and it would be fine with me if they preferred he didn't.  He hasn't been in many people's beds there but so far the staff doesn't seem to mind at all. 

I read somewhere online that some nursing homes have policies where they don't want therapy dogs to lick residents, either, or at least not to lick them in the face.  That would be OK with me, too, but staff at this nursing home don't seem to mind that, either.  Now, I try not to let Isaac lick anyone in the face unless they are open to being kissed by a dog.  He generally doesn't kiss people anymore, at least not in the face, unless they get in his face and make kissy noises or in some way seem to be inviting him to kiss them.  If someone does that, I let them know, "He might kiss you."  If they say they don't want doggie kisses, I make sure to keep him away from their face.  But usually, when they are doing that, they are delighted to get kissed.

My personal opinion is that a little doggie slobber will not hurt most people.  Neither will a little dog hair in their beds.

Therapy Dog Day

Isaac and I usually visit the nursing home on Mondays but this week I had a sore throat and a cough, so I postponed our visit until I could see my doctor and make sure I wasn't contagious.  So we visited today instead.

One of the women we always visit, I will call Sue.  Three different staff people told me, before we got to Sue's room, to make sure we stopped in and saw her, that she was really looking forward to seeing Isaac.  She adores Isaac and he adores her.  She is the one that told him, on our first visit, that she would give him her fried chicken at lunch if he would stay all day with her. 

Sue talks to Isaac a lot.  She talks to me a little, but talks to him a lot.  Today she told him she was sorry she didn't have a treat for him.  I pulled one out of my pocket and handed it to her, which delighted her.  She offered it to Isaac, who of course gobbled it up with much happy slobbering.

I am delighted to find that several of the nursing home residents now know Isaac's name, including a couple that I would have guessed weren't really aware enough to remember that a dog came to see them from week to week, let alone to remember his name.

Remember the woman that, on our very first visit, was hesitant to pet Isaac but then seemed to really enjoy petting him and announced, repeatedly, that he was furry?  Well, today she noticed us approaching and reached out towards him to indicate that she was eager to pet him.  She didn't talk to us today, but she clearly was aware of his presence and happy to pet and interact with him.

We visited one woman today that seemed pretty confused, but she was able to have a conversation about Isaac's ears.  I think Isaac has the softest ears ever, and when I noticed her touching them gently, I told her that.  She agreed, repeating, "The softest ears ever."  Then she said, "Like velvet."  She lives in the Alzheimer's unit and I was surprised she was able to make that observation.

Another woman we usually visit, I will call Millie.  Millie was sleeping last week when we visited so she didn't get to see Isaac then, but the week before, she was absolutely thrilled to see him.  She was thrilled today, too.  She seemed a bit more confused than usual today, but still recognized Isaac and was thrilled that he was there. 

She was sitting on her bed and I asked her if it was OK if Isaac got up on the bed with her and she said, "Oh yes!"  So Isaac jumped up there and lay down beside her and she hugged him and cuddled him and petted him.  She wanted to talk to me about Isaac but she was hard to understand today because she just seemed pretty confused.  But it was clear she was saying positive things about Isaac and he seemed to understand her just fine.

A couple of visitors asked if they could pet Isaac and I said, "Of course, that's why he's here!  He comes to get petted by everyone."  Visitors always seem happy to see Isaac, too.

Ready for the Fourth of July

I made Isaac a special bandana to wear to the nursing home this week, since it is almost the Fourth of July.  Cute, isn't he?

Another Therapy Dog Story

There is a woman, we'll call her Dorothy, at the nursing home that loves Isaac.  She's the one he kissed on the nose the first day we visited and got all excited and kept touching her nose, saying, "He kissed me right here!  Here is where he kissed me!"

Dorothy is always relaxing in a recliner in a common area when we get there.  Yesterday, she was napping.  I gently touched her shoulder and woke her up because I felt certain she would not want to miss a visit from Isaac.  When she saw it was me, and that Isaac was with me, she immediately sat up straight, looking wide awake and happy.

On our first visit, she told me that when her husband proposed to her, she told him she would only marry him if he would allow her to have a dog.  She loves dogs.

Yesterday she told me that she'd always had dogs and also cats.  I asked her which she liked better, dogs or cats.  She seemed a little... I don't know, maybe just groggy from sleeping, but it seemed like more than that.  Not exactly confused or disoriented.  She seemed to understand what I was saying but seemed to be having trouble expressing herself, trouble finding the right words for what she wanted to say.  When I asked her which she liked better, dogs or cats, she stuttered a bit, then pointed to Isaac and said, "This one."

Third Therapy Dog Visit

Isaac and I just finished our third therapy dog visit at the nursing home.  I really love seeing how much the residents enjoy seeing Isaac.  Actually, I enjoy seeing how much the staff enjoys seeing him, too.  There are a few staff members that always come over to visit with him and just seem delighted at his presence.

For some reason, a lot of the residents seemed concerned about whether I am feeding Isaac enough today.  People kept asking, "When do you feed him?  Are you going to feed him here?  What does he eat?  Does he eat a lot?  Does he eat ice cream?" and so on.  I kept assuring them that he eats plenty, that I gave him breakfast just a little while ago and that he is not starving.  Then I would ask, "Does he look too skinny?  Does he look like he doesn't get enough to eat?"  And they would say no, he wasn't too skinny and no, he didn't look like he doesn't get enough to eat.  But my goodness, he must have been really working the poor hungry puppy eyes today!

There is one woman, we'll call her Millie, who is always excited to see Isaac.  She was in bed today because she wasn't feeling well, but when we knocked on her door and she saw Isaac, her face lit up and she threw back the covers and sat up right away.  She hugged him and said, repeatedly, that he made her day.

There was another woman who was in bed but said she wanted to pet Isaac.  I asked her if it was OK for him to put his paws up on her bed, because it was going to be hard for her to reach him to pet him otherwise.  She said it was OK, so I told Isaac to do paws up, and instead he jumped up onto the bed with her!  It surprised me and it sure surprised the woman in the bed, too.  I asked her right away if it was OK or if she would prefer he get down, but she wanted him to stay.  He just lay right down beside her, like he was ready for a nap. 

I thought it was neat that he wanted to lie down with her, but I definitely don't want him to do that without me asking if it's OK first.  Over the next week, Isaac and I will be working on "paws up" on the bed.  I am also going to give him a command that means to get up on the bed.

Therapy Dog's First Day

Yesterday was Isaac's first day as a therapy dog at a local nursing home.

Doesn't he look cute?

I didn't want him to wear his service dog vest because that means he's on duty.  It means, to him, that he's not supposed to socialize and stuff.  But I wanted something to mark him as a special dog.  So I went with a purple bandana.  I bought him a blue one, too.  For several days before his first day as a therapy dog, I let him wear the bandana for short periods of time around the house, to get used to it.  I had him perform various tasks and we played with toys and he got lots of treats.

Isaac did great and I think he had a really nice time.  He was really calm and just enjoyed meeting all the people.

I was surprised at the number of people that didn't want to pet him.  I expected a few wouldn't, for whatever reason, which of course is OK.  But there were more than I expected that didn't want to.

Of course, many people did want to pet him. A couple people ended up following us down the hall because after they'd had a turn petting him, they still wanted more time with him.

The activity director took us around to see everyone and she was moving kind of fast.  Hopefully in the future, either we will be able to go around ourselves or if she wants to take us around every time, I can get her to slow down a little.  I think several of the residents would have really liked to spend more time with Isaac.

It was a really interesting experience.  I viewed my job as just taking Isaac around, putting him in the right place, and then allowing him to do his thing.  I wasn't doing any type of "therapy" with people.  I was like Isaac's chauffeur or something.  And Isaac's job, the "therapy" he was doing, was just being himself.  It was a really beautiful thing to watch.

Several residents told me something about dogs they used to have.  One elderly woman told me that when he late husband proposed to her, she had told him she would only marry him if he would allow her to have a dog after they got married.  One man in the Alzheimer's unit seemed to think he recognized Isaac, that Isaac was a dog he'd known before.  He looked quite surprised to see him and said, "Why, you've gotten a lot bigger, haven't you?"  Another man in the Alzheimer's unit told the activity director, as he was petting Isaac's head, "This is the dog I've been telling you about!"

One woman in the Alzheimer's unit seemed unaware of anything that was going on around her.  When I asked her if she wanted to pet the dog, she didn't respond at first.  But then she moved her hand toward him, just a little.  I gently placed her hand on Isaac's head.  After a minute, she began to pet him.  Then she said, "He's furry."  I said, "Yes, he sure is furry."  Several times, she repeated that he was furry.  I told her his name and she repeated that.  I asked her what her name was and she answered me.  Then she said, "Do you think they would let me keep him?"  I promised her we would come back again to visit.

One woman was lying back in a recliner.  She really wanted to pet Isaac and he rested his head on the arm of the recliner so she could stroke his head.  Then I had him put his paws up on the arm of the chair and she said, "Oh!" and seemed surprised that he could do that.  Then she leaned over close to him and he gave her a little kiss on the nose.  She was delighted.  She kept touching her nose and saying, over and over again, "He kissed me!  He kissed me right here!  Right here, this is where he kissed me."  I told her, "That means he really likes you."

Another woman was sitting in a wheelchair.  Isaac sat right in front of her and she petted him for a few minutes, then he lay down across her feet.  She was delighted.  She told him it would be lunchtime soon and that the were having fried chicken and that if he stuck around, she would give him some of her chicken.  Several times, she said things like, "He could just stay here with me all day.  I'd be happy to keep him.  He could stay here with me in my room."  She was one of the residents that ended up following us down the hall so she could spend a little more time in his presence.

Another woman was so excited to see him heading across the room toward her that she jumped out of her chair and practically knocked some other chairs over in her hurry to get to him.  I told her she could sit down and I would bring him over to her but she couldn't wait.  She was just so thrilled to get to see him.

We are going to volunteer every Monday.  I can't wait to see what happens next time.

Isaac is Signed up to Start Volunteering at a Local Nursing Home

Today I called a local nursing home to ask about doing volunteer work with Isaac.  I wanted to know if a therapy dog is something they would be interested in, if they would require the therapy dog to be registered with a pet therapy organization (I assumed they probably would), and if so, if they required registration with a particular organization.  See, there are a number of organizations that register therapy dogs, including Therapy Dogs International (which discriminates against disabled people - read more here), Therapy Dogs, Inc., Love on a Leash and Pet Partners.  Some nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities only allow therapy dogs that are registered with a particular organization.  So I wanted to check with a few places I might like to volunteer and find out if they required registration with a particular organization to help me choose which one I want to register with.  Ideally, I can choose one that most places I'd want to volunteer will accept.

Anyway, I spoke with the activity director at the nursing home and she said she would love to have a therapy dog visit the facility.  She said she's been wanting to do that for a while but had been unable to find anyone to bring one in.  I asked if she would require the dog to be registered with a therapy dog organization and she said oh no, she would just need proof that he's up to date on all his vaccines.  I went on to tell her that Isaac passed the Canine Good Citizen test (CGC) and explained a little about what that is and how it's very similar to the test most therapy dog organizations give dogs.  It's basically just a test of good doggie manners.  I talked a little about how Isaac is trained to so certain things, like "paws up" if someone wants him to put his paws in their lap and that I ask people if they want him to do that before I let him do it and stuff like that.  I told her how he's used to being around things like walkers and wheelchairs.

She wanted to know when we wanted to start.  So we are going in Monday morning.  I think we'll try to volunteer for about an hour at a time, once or twice a week.  I think this will be like heaven for Isaac.  An hour surrounded by people that will pet him and tell him what a pretty dog he is and feed him treats (which I will bring with me).  Ear rubs and belly rubs and kisses.  He will love it.

I'm really excited.

Therapy Dog-in-Training

I really want to get Isaac certified (or registered, different therapy dog organizations call it different things) as a therapy dog, hopefully in the next few months.  I've thought about doing that since shortly after I got him, but I'd been advised it was best to wait until I'd been working with him as a service dog for at least a year first, plus I wanted to give him time to mature a bit and calm down, hopefully a lot.  I believe Isaac would absolutely love doing that, though, and I will enjoy it, too.

There are a number of different organizations that certify/register therapy dogs and I'm not sure which one I want to work with.  I need to do a bit more research on that.

Initially, I want to volunteer with him at a nursing home.  I think Isaac would really enjoy that.

In the meantime, I've posted before about how I think Isaac is sort of an "unofficial therapy dog" around my apartment building.  Nearly all of my neighbors love him (the one that doesn't love him does not like dogs or people, period).  Isaac loves visiting with them.  Now that the weather is nice again, many of our neighbors hang out on the patio outside our building and Isaac has caught on to this and every time we go outside for anything, the first thing he does is head in that direction to see who is outside and to say hello to them.  He doesn't understand why no one is out there at 6:00 am or 10:00 pm or when the weather is rainy.  He always wants to look to see who is there.

Well, one of our neighbors, I'll call him M, is currently in the hospital with pneumonia.  M adores Isaac.  Whenever he sees me and Isaac in the lobby or outside, he calls hello to Isaac and then, as an afterthought, says hello to me.  He tells me, and our other neighbors, often, "I love that dog."  He tells everyone what a good dog Isaac is.  He has somewhat limited use of his arms and hands.  He always bends down so Isaac can kiss his face.

M is physically disabled and uses a wheelchair.  He also has a speech impairment.  None of this bothers Isaac in the least.  While I often have trouble understanding what M says, Isaac does not seem to have any trouble understanding him.  Maybe he doesn't understand the exact words, but he understands an invitation to put his paws on M's lap, to kiss M on the face, to present his ears for rubbing.

This evening I decided Isaac and I would go visit M in the hospital.  The hospital is only about a mile away and I wasn't planning to stay long, so it would be a short trip.  I knew M would be delighted to see Isaac and of course Isaac is always up for going anywhere.  But also, I though it would be interesting to see how Isaac responded in a hospital setting.  It would be sort of like training for being a therapy dog.

While Isaac is accustomed to being around things like wheelchairs and walkers, IV's and hospital smells and hospital beds are new to him.  He didn't blink, though.  He stood by M's bed so M could pet his head for a minute, then lay down to doze on the floor while I sat in a chair and chatted with M for a bit. 

When I was ready to leave, I wanted Isaac to put his paws up on the side of the bed so M could pet him more easily.  A few months ago, I taught Isaac the "paws up" command.  He does paws up on my lap but he will do it on anyone or anything else I point to or touch while giving the command, like my couch or bed or a chair.  One of the reasons I taught him "paws up" was so that I could let him know when it is OK to put his paws on someone's lap (and ideally he won't do it if not given the OK), but it was also so that I could then teach him "off," which means to get his paws off someone or something.  In typical Isaac fashion, he mastered "paws up" in a couple of days and "off" in a few more.

He seemed a bit uncertain about doing paws up on M's hospital bed, though.  I gave him the command a couple times and then he did it.  M was delighted.  His face broke into a big smile.  Isaac then felt reassured, I guess, because he then flopped sideways so that his head was on M's chest.  I was standing very close by and being very careful to make sure Isaac didn't get tangled up in M's IV line or anything like that.

The visit was a great success.  M was really happy to see Isaac.  As we were leaving, he called out the door of his room after us, "I love you."  To Isaac, not to me.  It was the loudest and the clearest that I've ever heard him speak.

Like a Good Neighbor, Isaac Is There

Isaac is very popular among our new neighbors.  Most of them, anyway.  There is one woman that lives here that does not seem to like him.  Twice he's tried to sniff her hand and she yanked her hand away like she was disgusted.  That's OK, though.  I know not everyone likes dogs.  I keep  him away from her now.

But everyone else seems to love him.  I think it's funny because several of them think Isaac loves them especially much.  They want him to snuggle them and give them kisses, and he's happy to oblige, but then they say things like, "Oh, he just loves me doesn't he?"  And, "He doesn't do this with anyone else, does he?"  And I'm thinking, "Well, yeah, he does love you, but he loves everyone, and yeah, actually, he does this with anyone that will let him."  I don't say that, though.  I just say, "Yep, he loves you a lot."

There is a patio on the side of my apartment building and some of my neighbors like to sit out there and now that Isaac has figured out there are often people out there, every time we go outside he makes a beeline for the patio to see whose there and socialize with them a bit before we take our walk.  He also entertains them by rolling around on the grass, crawling under the picnic table on his belly, and just looking silly.

Isaac likes plastic soda bottles and a few of my neighbors discovered this when one of them was drinking drinking from a plastic water bottle and he caught sight of it and start barking and begging for it.  He finally poured out the rest of  his water, the nice guy, and gave Isaac the bottle.  I'm not sure why Isaac likes those bottles so much.  I think part of it is the noise they make when he bites them.  He got so excited about that bottle, he pulled the leash out of my hand and raced around the lawn in circles.  My neighbors got a big kick out of that.  Now, they save their soda bottles for him.  A new guy just moved into the building and the other neighbors have informed him that he should save his soda bottles for Isaac.  Isaac is a super spoiled doggie.

I like it that they all like Isaac so much and I think he is good for them, too.  Everyone in my apartment building is disabled.  A number of them are also elderly.  I think they are probably a little lonely and bored.  The unconditional love of a super snuggly doggie must be a good thing for them.  He's sort of like an unofficial therapy dog or something.

Therapy Dogs International Discriminates Against People that Rely on Service Dogs

I had to post something about this because I think it is such an important issue.  Discrimination hurts everyone.  Even if you’re not disabled, even if you don’t have a service dog, even if you have no interest in therapy dogs, it still affects you.  No one benefits when someone is a victim of discrimination.

Therapy Dogs International is an organization that certifies therapy dogs, along with their owners.  Therapy dogs are dogs that have been trained to visit patients in hospitals, people in nursing homes, people in emergency shelters, autistic kids, etc.  They distract people from pain and fear, they provide a non-judgmental ear, they provide unconditional love, they give affection to the lonely, they give those in unbelievably difficult circumstances a moment of relaxation.  Therapy dogs need to be well-trained, well-behaved, friendly, not get nervous about strange things like wheelchairs or ventilators, tolerant of people that pet them a bit less than gently, and not get startled by sudden noises.  These are all characteristics of good service dogs, too.

However, Therapy Dogs International (TDI) has a new policy under which they will not certify service dogs as therapy dogs.  If a disabled person that relies on a service dog wants to do volunteer work with a therapy dog, they have to get a second dog to be certified as a therapy dog.  Of course, it takes more work and more money to own and care for two dogs than it does to care for one, and some disabled people have limited resources.

To certify a dog as a therapy dog, TDI requires the dog and its owner to pass a certification exam.  If someone that relies on a service dog has a second dog they want to certify as a therapy dog, TDI requires them to take the test with both dogs at the same time, presenting challenges that non-disabled dog owners don’t have to deal with when they take the test with only one dog.  Seems unfair, doesn’t it?

Ursula Kemp, president of TDI, says service dogs can’t be therapy dogs because dogs can’t pay attention to two people at once.  A service dog, she thinks, could not pay attention to its handler and pay attention to the person it was visiting for therapeutic reasons.  That might be true in some instances, but certainly is not true in all cases.  For instance, if someone with a seizure disorder took their service dog to visit elderly people in a nursing home, and the dog was busy being petted by the residents, it would still be able to notice if its handler began having a seizure.  It could then go over to its owner and provide assistance. 

Or what about someone that relies on a service dog to help them balance when walking?  That person could take their service dog to the library, sit in a chair, and the service dog could sit nearby while children practiced reading to the dog.  If the handler was sitting, they would not need their dog’s assistance at all.

There is also the fact that a number of other well-known therapy dog organizations are happy to certify service dogs as therapy dogs.  Apparently their presidents disagree with Ms. Kemp.

TDI’s policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal law that prohibits this type of discrimination against the disabled, including those that rely on service dogs.  A complaint has been drafted and will be filed after the holiday weekend with the U.S. Department of Justice, the agency that enforces the American with Disabilities Act and investigates violations of the ADA.

If you want to read more about the situation, you can do so on Service Dogs Central, a website that provides a wealth of information about service dogs.

If you want to contact Ursula Kemp of TDI to let her know you disagree with her discriminatory policies (and I wish you would), you can contact her at:

Therapy Dogs International
88 Bartley Road
Flanders, NJ 07836
Phone: (973) 252-9800
Fax: (973) 252-7171
E-mail: tdi@gti.net
Website: www.tdi-dog.org 

Don’t expect her to return your calls or respond to your emails, though.  Apparently she’s stopped doing that.  She’s even started blocking the email addresses of people that have contacted her to share their concerns.