Pet Therapy Dog
Bodhi of the Rockies
Prince Charming and his harem
Our first stop is usually to visit Bodhi’s favorite women in medical records in their back office off the lobby. Bodhi, of course loves. all the attention. The women remark on how much stress Bodhi relieves and how calm he is. They sometime compare him to their dogs at home who are a bit more wild. Bodhi can get a little crazy and run around at home too, but he’s always Mr. Calm at the hospital. The ladies surround him, give him loving and treats, and he looks back and smiles at me…he loves his harem!
Often they say “this is just what I needed.” Working in a hospital can be stressful for staff working with patients as well as those in administrative roles.
Our assigned areas were waiting rooms and 4th floor patient rooms. Four guys were waiting for loved ones in one waiting room, and it’s fun to see them wait their turn as Bodhi makes the rounds to each one. We talked a little bit about their dogs too.
Another man outside of the surgery waiting room petted Bodhi for a very long time. The woman working at surgical check-in (who we always visit) kept looking out in the hall…she didn’t want to miss petting Bodhi! She just loves him and always says how handsome he is, especially in his bow tie.
She’s right, he is handsome. And full of love.
Where are the kids?
We were excited to visit kids in the third-floor pediatrics unit, an area we have never visited. We buzzed the bell for a while but no one answered. Then someone told us that the pediatric ward doesn’t exist anymore, so bummer, no kids for us to see. But plenty of others who will enjoy Bodhi’s company.
The welcome desk keeps a list of Covid patient’s room numbers so I always avoid those areas. Everyone is masked and I am vaccinated, but I want to be safe. We went up to fourth floor (no covid patients there) and checked in at the nurse’s station, another of Bodhi’s favorite places to visit because they are so excited to see him. He loves his job…so many people adoring him. Prince Charming and another harem!
We went into a bunch of patient rooms too. One patient said her kids told her that her “granddogger” black lab was missing her, so she really appreciated having Bodhi visit. She was going to tell her kids that she got a dog fix.
A few minutes of normalcy
Bodhi really sniffs the room when he enters and it’s sometimes a tight fit for him to go over to the bed. He usually doesn’t like to stay in the rooms very long but people smile and appreciate the few minutes that he’s there, and thank us for visiting.
I would like to tell you amazing stories of how Bodhi changed patients’ lives, but we leave that to the doctors and nurses. Patients do seem cheered up, at least for a little while, and I believe that getting a little love from a friendly handsome dog takes their worries off of their medical condition, at least for a little while.