Pet Therapy Dog
Bodhi of the Rockies
Our first solo shift today and we didn’t even get lost! Luckily the hospital design is fairly small. We have assigned areas to visit so the whole hospital gets visiting dogs at one time or another. Our areas today were three waiting room areas plus the rehab area on the 7th floor.
Meeting family
We talked to a woman or a long time outside of surgery waiting for her husband having surgery. She was doing needlepoint but stopped to give Bodhi some loving. I know he gave her comfort.
Bodhi saw movement under the surgery doors and wanted to go into the area. When the doors opened, he got really excited to see people down the hall but we couldn’t go in there. Of course, he draws quite the crowd and a few staff came out to pet him.
Smiles all around
All the staff we meet are super friendly and many pull out their phones to show me photos of their own dogs. Visits with staff are just as important as visits with patients and their families. I can see them smile the second they see Bodhi coming, even with masks on!
Our last area was the ER waiting room where a few people were waiting on loved ones. One man just sat down to eat some popcorn so Bodhi went over to greet him. The man was crying and trying to talk with a mouth full of popcorn. He said that petting Bodhi was the best thing that happened to him that day.
Hearing that was the best thing that happened to me that day too.