Pets: Sometimes the best therapy
A USA Today story this week reports that nursing and senior-living homes are increasingly rewriting the rules to allow pets to move in.
"People grow up with animals, have had them all their lives, and this is their home now, so why wouldn't they have pets here?" says Helene King, communication coordinator for Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital in Baltimore, one of 300 facilities worldwide operating under the "Eden Alternative" philosophy, which integrates animals, plants and contact with children into daily routines to keep the elderly engaged. "It makes such a big difference in their lives." .......
"Animals re-engage people with life," says Loren Shook, who decades ago saw the positive effect of animals on the patients at the psychiatric hospitals where his family worked. Now, as CEO of Silverado (senior living homes), he has instituted a must-have-animals policy at all 17 facilities. "Having animals in our facilities reduces depression and anxiety and reduces the need for psychotropic drugs by 35%."
(Above, Phyllis Cornish pets a Pomeranian named Dakota)
Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred for USA TODAY
The live-in pets also make facilities feel less like institutions.
A couple weeks ago, I visited a friend in an assisted living home and witnessed first-hand the amazing impact an animal can have on people.
My friend's former neighbor came with me and also brought the woman's cat, Baby, for the visit.
Within moments after we settled into some chairs in a common area of the building, other residents began to congregate around us. Several asked if they could pet or hold Baby and, before long, they began to pull up their own chairs, staying with us through the entire 90-minute visit. Baby seemed to enjoy being the star of the show as she was cooed at and admired and stroked.
That's why the "therapy" dog movement also is growing so rapidly, according to another related USA Today article:
Across the country, thousands of pets and their owners are spending time with the infirm, the depressed or the distressed, as well as with legions of children and adults in difficult straits who get a boost from the unconditional acceptance and cheerful demeanor of the animal.
....Therapy dogs are house pets that have a special affinity for people, a placid demeanor and solid, reliable obedience skills. The ability they have to motivate, cheer, stabilize and calm people began to be widely publicized in recent years. Now, doctors, counselors, teachers, librarians, physical therapists and crisis managers are so convinced of the positive power of animals that they're lining up to request teams to spend healing time with peopel in their charge.
I've actually considered taking one of my dogs for therapy dog training -- Cowboy, a border collie-Australian shepherd mix, I think would be perfect for the work. He's calm, never jumps, seldom barks and enjoys people and children.
And if anyone out there has had a therapy dog, we'd love to hear your comments or receive your emails about the experience.
(HT: www.ohmidog.com)
About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
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