Rosie and I have been busy. We’ve been working on our certification for the St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog Program. For a puppy that was stubborn, free willed and not interested in pleasing anyone, Rosie has come a long way.
Friends and family snickered when they heard I was testing Rosie to be a therapy dog, “Rosie, really?” As a puppy she was so difficult to train that I actually contemplated, out loud, the possibility of giving her back to the breeder. Feisty and smart with a ‘I don’t give a damn attitude,’ she’s a three and half year old Golden Labrador bitch who I believe has great potential for service.
After an extensive application and phone interview, (Rosie was very quiet during the phone interview), orientations, references and criminal record checks, it was time to test Rosie. I was so nervous. Together we were evaluated for 90 minutes on a series of social interaction tests, obstacles, and simulations all observed very seriously by the St. John’s Ambulance adjudicator. Volunteers dressed in masks and robes approached her, she navigated through a simulated busy hospital lobby, she met people in wheelchairs and had metal trays and cymbals crashing in her ears. To my delight she kept her focus and composure. I was one proud Mum when she received her official St. John’s Ambulance bandana.
We are now a month into our service at a 130 bed extended care facility operated by Providence Heath Care in Vancouver’s south side. Eighty per cent of the residents have some level of dementia and most are in wheelchairs. Twenty per cent are confined to their beds with no understanding of the world around them. It’s hard to look at. Hard to see how the invisible people in our community are spending their final days. It’s not pretty, but it’s human and touching and as rewarding as it is disturbing.
“Why are you doing this?” a friend asks in disbelief. I just have to look around me, a relative has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a second cousin had a stroke, my girlfriend has breast cancer and I’m getting older. I am conscious to eat well, stay active, wear sunscreen, and reduce my stress, after all there’s heart disease in the family, and I’m in my mid 50’s. Life is moving faster, and we are all moving towards the end of life, facing that reality with my dog Rosie is another step along the journey.
Rosie is just one of 450 therapy dogs in the province of British Columbia. They are working in hospitals helping seniors and children, aiding people with brain injuries, trauma victims and autistic children to name just a few who benefit. Love and affection from a dog is therapy worth giving and receiving.
I am impressed how quickly Rosie has come to understand when to stop and be patted, give someone a wet kiss, walk away, wait patiently for wheelchairs to pass, spit out a pill or position her back in just the right spot to be scratched. Most importantly she knows now where the best spots are to find breakfast crumbs.
Coming up in my next blog I’ll share some of our tender moments with the residents, but for now I’ll say good night to Rosie on the eve of our weekly visits to the hospital. I’ll tell her she will be doing her service tomorrow, and she’ll look up at me from her bed with those big brown eyes, smile and wag her tail. I’ll pat her on the head and remind her what a good girl she is.
