Pet therapy

Mike and I had a really nice visit to see DG this weekend. We would have liked to stay longer with her and had originally planned to go up on Memorial Day weekend so we could. But that was when I thought Memorial Day weekend was this weekend rather than last weekend. And we couldn't go on Memorial Day weekend. Instead we drove up after work on Friday and came back Sunday morning. So it ended up being shorter than I wanted. We did get to have dinner with the twins and Ed though and it was great to see them. Earlier Ed had been sick enough that people were worried he might not get better, but by the time we came to visit he was looking about as well as he usually looks. I was very happy to see that and glad he's decided to stick around a while longer.

We took Apollo with us again this weekend. DG's really not a fan of dogs or pets, but she tolerates Apollo and will let us bring him. We decided that it was time for him to start earning his keep while he was there though. Since he's such a friendly, cuddly, and usually well-behaved dog, we offered to take him around the facility for some unofficial "pet therapy". DG thought this was a great idea and wanted to come along too. We took him down to meet some of her friends in the assisted living/nursing care wing. He sat and let several people pet him and gave them kisses and was, as always, very happy to meet everyone. Since he's not a licensed pet therapy dog he couldn't go into the memory care unit. So we just saw a few people. We also went over and saw one of DG's friends in the independent living apartments who had to give up her own dog a while ago. So he got to make quite a few new friends. And his "parents" were very pleased that he behaved himself so well and enjoyed all the compliments we got on how handsome he is.

In my mind I had ideas of Apollo sitting for a long time with someone while they petted him and how that would make them feel better. And I was actually a little disappointed that each visit was fairly brief, no more than about 5 minutes. After we got back to the apartment though one of DG's friends called to thank us for thinking to bring the dog to her and taking the time from our day to come see her. It made me think that perhaps part of what helps people who benefit from pet therapy is not just the dog, but also the fact that someone thought they were important enough to think about, schedule time for, pack up the dog, and come visit. Although everyone liked meeting Apollo what I heard frequently was gratitude that we even thought about them and took the time to come by. It actually makes me sad that they're alone so much that us bringing our dog by would matter that much to them. It certainly made me glad to do it. It was a good reminder for me of how a really small effort, just to remember someone and make them feel important, can have such a huge impact on someone's day. I really would like to get Apollo licensed as a pet therapy dog. He's a cuddly dog and would enjoy it. Unfortunately there's a bunch of classes you have to get through and we've never even had time to take Apollo to basic obedience training. Even though we won't be able to bring the dog, I do think Mike and I need to make more time to visit some of the local places around us. It wouldn't take much of our time and it would mean a lot to people who feel the world is starting to forget about them. It also reminds me that Mike needs to call his grandmother.