There was a nice article in the Berkshire Eagle:  Pet therapy:  Good dogs, even better results which talks about the benefits of pet therapy, but it also drew my attention to a local therapy dog organization.  If you’ve been keeping up with Oscar’s therapy dog journey, you know about Delta Society & TDI (Therapy Dog International) which are national organizations that train and register therapy dog teams. 

But I just learned that there’s also a local organization called The Good Dog Foundation that does the same type of training and arranges visits to facilities in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY, The Good Dog Foundation has an extensive list of facilities that they visit within New York City.  They also extend up into Westchester, Fairfield County and the Berkshires.

If you’re looking to do therapy dog training with your dog, I don’t think it matters which organization you choose to work with - they’re all terriffic…have fun!!

Enter your dog as a contestant to become the new spokesdog for Lees carpet and help the Delta Society therapy dog organization at the same time!!  For every entry, Lees will donate $1 to Delta Society! 

The winner of the last Muddiest Buddy Contest, Bob, is retiring and his title of official Lees carpet spokes-pet is up for grabs. If you think your pet has what it takes to represent the Lees brand, known for its exceptional durability, incredible stain repellency and 25-year wear warranty, submit a picture of your pet at his or her messiest. Entries will be accepted from May 1, 2008 until June 15, 2008. Starting on June 18, 2008 we will have five finalists online for voting. Be sure to check back and make sure your favorite Muddiest Buddy wins!

Click Here to Enter Your Pet Now!

The winning pet-owner will receive $5,000 worth of new Lees carpet and a year’s supply of Purina® brand pet food. Four runners-up will receive $250 Gift Certificates to Carpet One Floor & Home. For more information on the Lees brand please visit RelaxItsLees.com, CarpetOne.com, or your local Carpet One Floor & Home Store. For more information on Purina products and pet care, please visit Purina.com.

For every qualified entry, one dollar will be donated to Delta Society. Established in 1977, Delta Society is the leading international resource for the human-animal bond. Delta Society has been the force to validate the important role of animals for people’s health and well-being by promoting the results of research to the media and health and human services organizations. Delta Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to improve human health through service and therapy animals. For more information on Delta Society, please visit their website at DeltaSociety.org.

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This ABC News article:  Dogs in Pain May Act Depressed is a little lengthy, but well worth the read.  It’s title is a little misleading, because the article gives great tips on how to recognize the signs of anxiety, depression AND pain in your dog, as well as some suggestions on how to help your dog to feel better.

The article points out that depression in animals is often the result of chronic pain.  Unfortunately, we’ve had some personal experience with this recently.  I have avoided talking about it previously in the blog (mostly because it’s been a sad few months and I didn’t want to dwell on it) but Oscar suffered a broken toe due to an unfortunate accident and spent most of the winter in a splint. 

Making the best of the situation early on…

You might think what we thought a the beginning - a broken toe, no big deal, right?  But alas, it was a very big deal to Oscar who had to wear a big bulky splint that covered the entire bottom half of his leg.  He was also on restricted activity - so no dog run, no long walks, no rough-housing…poor O-Dog.  While wearing the splint, Oscar definitely seemed to be showing signs of depression…he seemed to mope around and be less interested in playing.  But the accident occurred just after his 2nd birthday, so we weren’t sure if some of the change might be due to just growing up and losing that puppy exuberance. 

Here’s a picture of the saddest dog in the world…

To make matters worse, after 8 weeks with the splint (which has to be replaced every two weeks, btw), the x-ray was not showing any “bony healing”.  Our vet referred us to a doggy orthopedic specialist (yes, they really exist!!) and we learned that if the bone did not heal properly, it could cause Oscar permanent pain and the only way to treat would be a very complex surgery (with a 20% success rate) or amputation of his toe! 

After 4 months, we decided to take the splint off even though there is still no evidence of bony healing.  According to our vet, scar tissue has formed between the two ends of the bone which seems to be pretty sturdy.  It’s possible that the scar tissue will be strong enough to enable Oscar to be fully active and keep his toe, but only time will tell.  When the splint first came off, Oscar wouldn’t put any weight on it, but two weeks later he is barely limping.  Because he was in a splint so long, his tendons have stiffened up, his foot muscles have atrophied and he had sores from where the splint would continuously rub against his leg.  We’re hoping the slight limp is just a result of those temporary conditions and we’re still hopeful for a full recovery.

Anyway, back to the point of article…in the last week Oscar’s spirit has improved dramatically!!  We’re still trying to keep his activity level on the low side for a few more weeks at the vets recommendation, but now it seems like he wants to play all the time - he’ll bring us every toy in his basket and squeak them until we give in and play tug-of-war.  The before bedtime ritual of “crazy-time” has been reinstated…this is where Oscar runs in circles around the bed barking and play biting us as we alternately hide under the covers and pounce on him.  In short…Oscar’s back!! 

I’m so happy that he’s been able to bounce back to his good ol’ high-spirited self.  After all, you can’t blame him for being down…his foot hurt and we made him lug around a big heavy cast for 4 months.  He had no way of knowing if it would ever come off!  In our case, we knew that he was in pain, but if your dog suddenly starts acting depressed - take him to the vet, he may be in pain and he has no way to tell you!

On a positive note, you can’t imagine the attention Oscar recieved during his therapy dog visits at the hospital because of his condition.  Patients would immediately forget their own woes and say, “Ohhh……what’s wrong with his foot?”.  Patients on the orthopedic floor were especially empathetic.  We met several people with broken left toes or feet who felt a special bond with Oscar.  Finally, you wouldn’t believe how many people asked us if Oscar was in the hospital for treatment!!!  I have heard of a revolutionary human/veterinary hospital somewhere - I can’t for the life of me remember where it was, but no Oscar didn’t receive any treatment at St. Vincent’s - except the therapy dog got some therapy for himself!!

Well this has been a long one, thanks for sticking with me.  I would be really interested in hearing from any other dog owners who have dealt with a broken toe - especially one with a delayed or non-union.  We’re still holding our breath to see if Oscar will make a full recovery.  As much as the thought of having his toe amputated makes me want to cry, the thought of him not being able to have a full range of motion for the rest of his life makes me even sadder - he’s only 2 years old!! 

Any success stories to share???  Please…

Now that we’ve finished chronicling our journey to become a therapy dog team (click here for Becoming a Therapy Dog - Parts 1 through 6), we’d like to periodically share some of our special visits with you.  Every week, we meet wonderful people who inspire us with their strength and positive attitude, while dealing with some serious health issues.  We don’t know exactly what they’re going through, but since we visit patients who have been admitted to St. Vincent’s hospital we know that they probably aren’t feeling their best.

Last week we met an elderly gentleman from Long Island who has rescued over 300 stray dogs and cats during his lifetime.  Each time he brought a stray to a shelter he made a donation to guarantee that the animal would held for adoption and not be euthanized.  He gave us quite an education on the different shelters and rescue organizations in the area.  While we were enjoying conversing with a fellow animal-lover, Oscar also seemed to have a special bond with this patient.  The gentleman invited Oscar to sit in bed with him and Oscar immediately lied down flat against his side and fell fast asleep!!  Now Oscar has had the privilege of visiting quite a few patients in their beds and he has NEVER displayed this level of comfort so quickly.  It’s like he could sense how deeply this person felt about animals and their well-being and felt completely relaxed in his presence. 

We normally have very positive visits with pet owners or people who have owned pets in the past.  However, some of our most memorable visits have been with people who have never owned a dog.

One visit in particular sticks with me, even though it happened several months ago…

We were following our normal routine, going door-to-door asking if people would like a visit from the “therapy dog” and we came to the doorway of an elderly African-American man who was sitting up in bed with his feet on the floor. 

When we initially asked if he wanted a visit he said, “Oh no, I’m afraid of dogs”.  We said, “Okay, have a nice night.” and were about to move on when he spotted Oscar in the hallway outside of his room.  “That’s the dog?” he asked.  “Yes, this is Oscar.” we replied. 

Deciding that Oscar didn’t look very scary, he said, “Well, maybe I could say hi to him.”  So, we guided Oscar into the room.  Oscar casually walked over to the man and nudged his calf with his nose.  The man tentatively reached down and petted Oscar on the head.  To break the ice, we demonstrated Oscar’s “High 5″ trick and it was all over from there…by the end of the visit, the man was happily letting Oscar lick his hands and seemed to have lost all of his initial apprehension - he was laughing and his face was lit up with a huge smile.  Right before we left, he confided that he had been bitten by a dog when he was very young and had been scared of dogs his entire life.  It had been over 60 years since he had gone anywhere near a dog!! 

Gratuitous cute picture of Oscar…

Just yesterday we had another amazing visit with a woman who had never had a dog.  She was excited to see Oscar, but told us that she wasn’t a dog person.  She kept mentioning how tons of other people would just LOVE to meet Oscar….her sons, her neighbor, a friend she had known since “right after the war”.   Amidst her interesting stories, she would mention how one person or another would be so upset that they’d missed meeting Oscar.   Although she continued to pet Oscar and tell us how cute he is, we weren’t positive that she was really enjoying Oscar’s visit.

Then finally she said to us, “You know, you’ve made my day.  I haven’t had any visitors all day and I’m not expecting any.  You can’t imagine how lonely it gets.”  And of course that made our day!  What a wonderful compliment from a woman who was so focused on what would make other people in her life happy at a time when no one would blame her for just thinking about herself.

Well that’s all for now, we hope you’ve enjoyed the first installment of Oscar’s Therapy Dog Tales.  Tune in for more next time…

This week is Pet Therapy Week at St. Vincent’s hospital.  Stop by the Link Pavillion any time this week to learn about the Animal-Assisted Therapy program at St. Vincent’s.  You can also buy baked goods and calendars to support the therapy dog program!!

St. Vincent’s Manhattan was the first New York State Department of Health test site for animal-assisted therapy in acute care facilities. In 1998, St. Vincent’s pioneering work resulted in the state’s health code being changed to make such programs possible. St. Vincent’s  also hosts certification classes 3-4 times a year.

We also love that St. Vincent’s has a Patient Pet Care Program that assists patients who need help arranging care for their pets during extended & emergency hospitals stays.

We got the chance to meet a truly amazing dog last week - a black lab named Adele.  My colleague, Mitch, met Adele and her owner Marty Harris, while walking his dog and convinced her to come by the Snif Labs office to share her inspirational story with the whole team.

You see, Adele is a service dog who is specially trained to be able to sense when her owner Marty is about to lose consciousness due to a rare heart problem.  Adele will alert Marty to sit or lie down BEFORE she actually faints.  Doctors don’t even understand how Adele is able to sense an oncoming episode (she can also sense things like oncoming seizures & low blood sugar in diabetics), but they think that dogs are able to use their more sophisticated senses of smell and/or hearing to detect very subtle changes that happen to a person before they have an episode.

Before Adele came into Marty’s life, Marty was frequently fainting and ending up in the emergency room, often suffering concussions.  Although Adele sometimes alerts her up to 20 times a day, she hasn’t fainted one single time since Adele has been looking out for her!!  We actually saw Adele alert Marty right in our office and I think Mitch put it best when he said that it “gave him chills”. 

Adele was trained by an amazing organization called Canine Partners for Life.  They train service dogs to help people with muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders and more.

Click here for a recent article from the Boston Globe that goes into more detail about all of the ways that Adele helps Marty in her day to day life.

So far, Oscar hasn’t demonstrated any life-saving abilities, but we’re going to keep our eyes open - maybe he has some hidden talents that we just haven’t discovered yet!!

Thank you, Marty, for sharing your story with us and allowing us to share it with our readers.  We wish you and Adele all the best!

We also wanted to wish Marty’s son Ethan a Happy 9th Birthday!!  We hope you had a great time at Blue Man Group.  Good luck beating the Pokemon game!! 

If you’re just joining us, catch up by reading Becoming a Therapy Dog - Parts 1  through 5.  Back to our story where we just received our official Delta Society Pet Partners badges…

We must be close now…actually depending on the facility you want to visit, you’re probably still 4-8 weeks away from visiting your first patient. What?? We’re already a registered therapy dog team, what could possibly take another 4-8 weeks?? Well now you have to go through the volunteer program for the facility that you want to visit. If you want to visit a hospital, you’re probably looking at a long bureaucratic process. We’ve heard that it can take less time for nursing homes and other facilities, but we can’t speak from experience on those.

We decided that we wanted to visit a local facility with a pet therapy program. Volunteering as a therapy dog team ususally involves a weekly committment, so we wanted to make it as easy as possible to keep our committment by choosing a facility within walking distance. With help from the ASPCA, we were able to identify a nearby facility with a pet therapy program - St. Vincent’s Hospital.

St. Vincent’s was actually the first New York State Department of Health test site for animal-assisted therapy in acute care facilities. In 1998, their pioneering work resulted in the state’s health code being changed to make animal-assisted therapy programs possible in hospitals. Edna Wolf, who runs the Animal-Assisted Therapy program at St. Vincent’s is truly an inspiration. She was a physical therapist at St. Vincent’s for many years. When Edna retired, she took over the management of the animal-assited therapy program as a full-time volunteer. Last we heard, the animal-assisted therapy program at St. Vincent’s had almost 30 active therapy dog teams.

So, bottom line….the therapy dog program at St. Vincent’s is terrific, but it was somewhat of an ordeal to get through the volunteer process.

First, a 4 page application, with SSN for background check and proof of certification by either Delta Society or TDI. 2-3 weeks later, we were scheduled for a volunteer orientation (during the 9-5 work day). This orientation was not specific for the therapy dog program, but contained basic information that all volunteers need to know about standard and emergency hospital procedures. Next a health screening, consisting of a physical and blood work to ensure that you have all critical immunities (during the 9-5 work day). The health screening also required 2 sets of PPD Tuberculosis tests which must be administered at least 2 weeks apart (during the 9-5 work day). Finally, a specific volunteer orientation with Edna, to show you the ropes and accompany you on your first day of visits (during the 9-5 work day).

You might notice that getting through the volunteer program required 4-5 tasks that needed to happen during the 9-5 work day, so unless you have a very flexible work schedule, you should plan to use a few personal or vacation days.

So, almost 6 months to the day from our first failed attempt at the Pet Partners evaluation, we completed both our Delta Society Pet Partners registration and the St. Vincent’s volunteer orientation and started visiting. It was a lot of time and effort, but well worth it.

Now we’ve been visiting every Wednesday night for about 6 months. Each week, as soon as Oscar figures out where we’re going, he drags us the rest of the way to the hospital. Oscar is a now total pro with both the elevator and the revolving doors at the entrance. We don our volunteer uniforms and badges (Oscar has his own badge too). When we get there, we find the clipboard that Edna has left for us that tells us which floor to visit and lists any special requests.

We introduce ourselves to the nursing staff and make our rounds for about an hour (any longer and Oscar starts to get antsy). Overall, Oscar is a huge hit with the patients, their visitors and the staff. Some people aren’t interested in interacting with Oscar and that’s okay. But each week, we usually get to visit with 8-10 patients. Sometimes it’s a quick visit and we just chat for a few mintues about Oscar. Other times, it obvious that the patients are really enjoying the visit and we linger a while, Oscar gets lavished with attention and petting and we show off a few of our tricks. Often, you can see the tension and pain melt from people’s faces just by petting him. Or he simply acts as a conversation starter to distract them for a few minutes from the monotany of being confined to a hospital bed.

Yes, in our short time at St. Vincent’s so far, we’ve had some amazing visits - a woman hugging Oscar and thanking us profusely, with tears running down her face - a 70 year-old man who told us he had been afraid of dogs all his life and ended up asking Oscar for “kisses” several times. But every week, we’re greatful for the even the smallest sign that Oscar is making a difference….a smile, a thank you, some tender petting.

We rarely know why the patients are in the hospital, and we’re not medical professionals, but our prescription??

Take one therapy dog and call us in the morning.

If you’re just joining us, catch up by reading Becoming a Therapy Dog - Parts 1  through 4.  Back to our story where we just failed our therapy dog evaluation…

We ended up registering for the ASPCA’s “Go Say Hi” training, which helps prepare you and your pet for animal-assisted therapy. With the help of trainer Michele Siegel and her excellent team, Oscar sailed through the 6 week training class and we passed our Pet Partners evaluation with flying colors!

I would recommend taking the course even if you think your animal can pass the Pet Partners evaluation without it…the class emphasizes that as their owner, you need to be able to recognize when your animal is feeling stressed and reduce the stress or remove your animal from the situation. Michele did a great job of helping us to recognize subtle and not-so-subtle signs of stress with Oscar.

Finally, I would recommend the training because most people don’t have hospital equipment at their disposal to practice with. At first Oscar was terrified of most hospital equipment - walkers, wheelchairs, even crutches were scary to the little guy. The team at the ASPCA helped us make Oscar comfortable around the equipment in a controlled setting, so now when he visits the local hospital, it doesn’t phase him at all.

The ASPCA also helped match us with a facility to visit after we completed our training and they send us a newsletter that keeps us up to date with animal-assisted therapy activities and opportunities in NYC.

Finally, we had passed our Pet Partners evaluation! We were ready to start changing peoples lives! But wait, we’re not done yet? Nope, not by a long shot.

Today, when we visit people as Delta Society Pet Partners, we often get comments from patients who have dogs saying, “I’m going to be in the hospital for a while, I’d love to have my pet come visit. How can I get them in the program?” Or some people just think that the program is a great idea and want to know how they can get involved.

When we get these types of inquiries, we try to help people set realistic expectations about the time it takes to become registered with a therapy organization and start visiting. We let them know that we were pretty focused on the process and it took us almost 6 months from the time that we started seriously working towards becoming an active therapy dog team.

So, you’re wondering what’s next…well, now that we’ve completed the Pet Partners evaluation, we have to complete a 17 (or so) page registration booklet which includes a health screening by a vetrinarian (for the dog), a multiple choice test (for the owner) and several more pages of information about both the dog and owner. Then you send in your registration packet (along with a picture of you and your therapy partner and a registration fee) and a few weeks later you have your official Delta Society Pet Partners badge!!

 Tune in next time for the final chapter in our Becoming a Therapy Dog story - we’re almost there!

If you’re just joining us, catch up by reading Becoming a Therapy Dog - Parts 1  through 3.  Back to our story where we’re about to have our therapy dog evaluation…

NOTE: From here on out, our therapy dog tale will focus on the Delta Society Pet Partners program, which is the organization we are registered with, but from what we understand, Therapy Dogs International (TDI) is an equally terrific organization.

Shortly after Oscar’s 1st birthday, we found out that they were doing evaluations for the Delta Society’s Pet Partner’s program at the ASPCA (on 92nd St. between York and 1st Ave). I managed to secure Oscar a test slot at the last minute. We hadn’t taken an official training course, but I had read the Delta Society Manual from cover-to-cover and practiced with Oscar at home.

In addition to the skills from the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test (which translate almost exactly to Part 1 of the Pet Partners Program Team Evaluation), we would also need to demonstrate that Oscar would be able to react properly to stressful situations that he might encouter while visiting in a facility. These situations include, exuberant and clumsy petting, a restraining hug, staggering/gesturing individual, angry yelling, being bumped from behind and being crowded and petted by several people.

We hadn’t done any specific training for those situations, but I was positive that Oscar wouldn’t react aggressively to any of them. Plus he had done so well on the CGC test without any practice…

On the way to the test, we came across two little boys - I’m not very good at guessing kids ages, but I would say they were 3 and 5, maybe a little younger. The boys saw Oscar and immediately were drawn to him. The older of the two looked at us and asked in a loud squeaky voice, “IS HE FRIENDLY?”. Yes, I replied, would you like to pet him? Oscar sat like a super star and patiently endured some clumsy petting (good prep for the test).

A few seconds go by and the younger boy pipes in with his own, “IS HE FRIENDLY?”. Yes, he’s still friendly…..excellent training by the parents on how to approach an unknown dog, btw. Since we had a few minutes to spare, I had Oscar demonstrate some of his tricks. High 5 and Kiss were a huge success….then I had Oscar stand up and balance on his hind legs.

I’m so proud of Oscar, he looks like he belongs in the Big Apple Circus - his paws, stretched up in the air, reach just to the height of older boy’s chest and he takes tiny steps back and forth to keep his balance. Then all of a sudden, the older boy, overcome with delight, swoops in and gives Oscar a bear hug. I tense, preparing for Oscar to react to this aggressive hug, but he handles it like a pro…he holds still for a few seconds and then slowly and gently rotates around and drops back down to all fours. It’s an omen…Oscar is going to ROCK the therapy dog test. He’s already perfectly demonstrated two of the aptitudes from Part 2 right there on the sidewalk!

Fastforward 30 minutes …

We knew we were in trouble as soon as we entered the ASPCA building. In addition to conducting training programs, the ASPCA in NY is also a shelter and an animal hospital. As soon as we crossed the threshold into the lobby, Oscar’s tail clamped down (it would have been between his legs if it was long enough) and his nose went to the ground. The combined smells of the hospital and the rescue dogs seemed to send him into a panic. Next we had to go in an elevator - Oscar had never been in one before - he was absolutely terrified.

Finally, we made it to the evaluation room (we later found out that rescue dogs play in this same room and that they sometimes are not house-broken). It was a total disaster, our calm well-behaved dog was in a complete panic. His nose never left the floor, he strained at the end of his leash, he wouldn’t even respond to his name. The evaluators took one look at him and politely told us that Oscar was not ready to take the test. What?? He failed before he even started?!? Yup.

Poor Oscar, he’d never failed anything before…how would he handle the rejection? I consoled him for the entire car ride back home - I wanted to protect him from the embarassment, the shame of trying and failing…but by the time we arrived back at home he had completely recovered and seemed totally unphased about his failure.

Tune in next time to hear about how Oscar finally becomes a registered therapy dog!

If you’re just joining us, catch up by reading Becoming a Therapy Dog - Parts 1 & 2.  Back to our story where we’re about to take the Canine Good Citizen test…

So, we did some quick practice exercises while we were waiting (with T-R-E-A-T-S) and before we knew it, it was our turn. Oscar executed tests 1 through 9 like a champ! And then came the dreaded #10…

I warned the extremely nice lady doing the certification that we probably weren’t going to be able to pass this step and that Oscar was going to freak out when I walked away, but she reassured me that he would be okay and he’d done so well with the other exercises that we should give it a try. She suggested that sometimes dogs get less stressed if you put them in a sit or down stay before leaving. Okay…here goes…

I handed her the leash, told Oscar to lie down (he did), “Now, STAY Oscar” - I turned around and without looking back, walked away and disappeared into the crowd. For the first few steps, I was cringing…just waiting for that horrible yelping to start, but it didn’t come. When I was far enough away, I peeked out from behind a tree to check up on him - he was looking around a little nervously for me, but he wasn’t yelping and he was still LYING DOWN!!

But we weren’t out of the woods yet - to pass test #10, he had to go 3 whole minutes without showing anything stronger than mild agitation or nervousness….I held my breath….the seconds ticked by. After about 2 minutes (seemed like 2 hours!) he stood up, but he never strained at the leash or yelped. Finally, the woman conducting the test waved me back - Oscar had passed!! It was a miracle! As she signed his evaluation form, she told me that she had never seen a calmer 10 month-old puppy - I have never been so proud in my entire life! Atta boy, Oscar!

We later found out that by completing the CGC certification, we had demonstrated half of the skills needed to become a registred therapy dog - and the evaluator’s comment reinforced our belief that Oscar’s calm nature would make him a terrific candidate for therapy dog work.

Tune in next time when it’s finally time to take our therapy dog test!!