 |
About Pet Hug Fund™ |
Miss T and Nanci
The day after Christmas a lifelong friend of ours was in a horrific car accident. She was flown to the hospital in critical condition and there were several occasions when the family was told she might not make it through the night.
After weeks in intensive care and a long fight back from a traumatic brain injury, she was moved to the rehabilitation hospital where my therapy dog and I had originally trained to become a therapy team. I asked her daughter if she thought her mom might enjoy a visit from me and my yellow Labrador, Miss T. She thought it was a great idea and we made plans to go up and see her. I knew her mom liked dogs, but wasn’t sure if her step dad was fond of dogs, so I was entering unknown territory.
When we came into the room I was thrilled to see that our friend was doing pretty well. We started chatting, but Miss T wasn’t going over to the bed as I had hoped. I asked her to come over, and she did, but her heart wasn’t into it. As we were chatting Miss T moved over to the chair where our friend’s husband was sitting. He didn’t offer to pet her so, instead of sitting and waiting; she moved forward and sat down in front of him. He gave her the obligatory pat, but she moved closer and put her head on his lap. Unsure of what his reaction might be I almost made Miss T come back to me. Then I saw him smile and he began to stroke her head. Miss T’s whole mission in life is to have attention, so she was quite happy with her situation and it gave this man something to smile about.
Later, as I thought about our visit I was sorry that my friend couldn’t have had more interaction with Miss T. But as I thought about it, I came to the realization that Miss T knew who needed the pet therapy. It wasn’t our friend in the hospital bed; but her husband, who had seen his wife through so much and who had held on to a lot of guilt. You see, he was driving the car when the accident occurred. He needed some unconditional love and attention that this loving dog could offer him.
Footnote: Miss T and I became a therapy dog team and had visited for a year or so when she became ill. After months of tests and treatments we found out she had an adrenal gland tumor. It was a difficult surgery to remove the tumor, as it is next to the vena cava, and she nearly died. But the stoic Labrador in her pulled through and, although she has only one kidney functioning, she is back in action. We are currently working with a five year old autistic boy and she is getting him to throw a ball for her and work on his speech.
Healing Heart Therapy Dogs, Crete, NE