Like many visitors to Griffin Hospital in Derby, CT, I was surprised to see dogs in the hospital.
It seems counterintuitive to have animals in a hospital but in reality there are a number of benefits to having pet assistive therapy in medical settings.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a visit by a therapy dog can “significantly reduce pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue” in patients.
Pet owners know that petting a dog makes you feel good and relaxed.
This is because your body releases endorphins, chemicals which reduce your perception of pain and bring on a sense of pleasure.
These benefits are not only for the patients at a hospital but apply to family members who also experience stress when a loved one is in the hospital.
Griffin’s program is called People and Animals Working in Spirit (PAWS).
The program recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary.
The program was started by Ruth Tuccio in 1996. Ms. Tuccio still organizes the program and evaluates new dogs entering the program.
Dogs must be fully vaccinated and pass a rigorous behavior screening in order to qualify for the program. They also must be certified and insured by a national therapy dog organization.
The most recent addition to Griffin’s PAWS program is my retired racing greyhound, Mandy.
After learning about the PAWS program several years ago I was very interested in becoming a volunteer but I needed to find the right dog. A dog needs to have the right personality to do well in the program.
Being well behaved and outgoing are a good start, but a dog also has to be confidant and not easily scared – there are a lot of strange sounds and smells in a hospital.
The dog also has to be well behaved with a variety of people. In any visit a dog may interact with people ranging from small children to the elderly and everyone in between.
Mandy entered my life in September of 2015.
My family volunteers with Pups Without Partners greyhound, an adoption program in West Haven, and my wife was asked to drive a newly retired dog to the vet.
Mandy had been a successful racing dog but was injured in her 24th race and retired to the program.
She must have been a special dog because after the trip to the vet my wife came home and convinced me that this dog should come to our home to rehab from her injury.
We have fostered dogs before, including some special needs dogs, so I agreed and a few days later I met Mandy. I am partial to the greyhound breed. They are generally friendly, relaxed, low maintenance dogs but Mandy was special from the moment I met her. After helping her recover from her injury I knew we couldn’t let her go and we adopted her earlier this year.
Mandy has all the qualities you need to be a therapy dog, so I contacted Ms. Tuccio to learn what we needed to do to become a therapy dog team.
After sending over Mandy’s medical records to prove she was healthy enough to join the program we started the behavior screening.
On our first visit to Griffin I was nervous. The hospital was under construction and I wasn’t sure how Mandy would handle the chaos.
We began the screening outside.
Ms. Tuccio introduced herself to Mandy and proceeded to rub her all over Mandy’s body to make sure she did not have a spot where she was sensitive to being touched.
Greyhounds have an advantage over other dogs in this area because they are routinely examined by vets, track officials and massaged by their kennel people. So being touched by a stranger is routine for them.
Next we went inside the atrium and took everything in.
There were people going in and out, several of whom approached Mandy and asked to pet her, plus the renovations going on. Mandy didn’t bat an eyelash.
Nor did she hesitate when we got on the elevator. Now that’s an experience greyhounds are not exposed to!
We went to the second floor and met some of the nurses and staff working the ward. Mandy wagged her tail and greeted everyone in turn, without overwhelming them.
Finally it was time to visit a patient’s room. We went into a room where a patient was sitting in a chair rather than lying in a bed. We asked the patient before entering and only approached when given permission. The first test was a success and Ms. Tuccio seemed excited about Mandy’s prospects.
There were two more behavioral screening tests to come before we were recommended to the Therapy Dog Certification Program.
There was much paperwork to fill out but it was all worth it.
Mandy became certified as a therapy dog and I became certified as her handler. I also needed to go through the Griffin Hospital’s Volunteer Training Program.
Griffin is always looking for volunteers in a variety of positions throughout the hospital. I signed up for the next orientation session, filled out even more paperwork and was on my way to becoming a full-fledged member of the PAWS team.
Mandy and I have been visiting “her patients” for the past couple of months.
We begin each trip by putting on her therapy dog vest with her PAWS id card. When we arrive at Griffin we sign in and check to see if anyone has specially requested a visit.
We go floor to floor, knocking on doors and introducing ourselves. When we are invited into a room we spend time with the patients and families, greeting everyone in turn.
We also make it a point to greet the staff as we walk down halls. Generally we start on the second floor and then visit the emergency room where Mandy can be a great comfort to people in high anxiety situations. We then visit patients on the first floor.
We typically spend a couple of hours at the hospital and the visits start and end in the parking lot where people are excited to see her. Mandy takes great pleasure visiting and I have great satisfaction volunteering at Griffin Hospital.
For more information about the PAWS program please click here.
For information about greyhound adoption please click here.
