A Halloween to remember

We probably will not be posting about every therapy shift the dogs do at Childrens since Indy and Karma will each have two shifts a month, but when there is a special story, we will most definitely share 🙂

This week definitely qualifies.  The Prescription Pet Program was having its first annual pet costume parade.  We can’t imagine having to spend Halloween in the hospital, so we were anxious to participate and hopefully help make this Halloween a special one for the kids.

Jenny can pull off a decent Snow White so we decided to make Indy one of the seven dwarfs.  And with his big ears we thought he would be typecast perfectly as Dopey!  We ordered him a new green coat which Jenny embellished with a felt patch and some wooden buttons.  We found a purple doggie elf hat on etsy and finished off the costume with a belt.

We were a hit — especially with the 5-8 year old girl patients.  Some of the boys thought Indy was Robin Hood which we thought was pretty cute.  Because it was a parade, we moved through pretty quickly, but still had a great time putting so many smiles on faces.

Today, we went back for our regularly scheduled shift.  What an emotional day.  We visited with about 15 kids and two in particular really touched us.  (And, it was funny to have people recognize us as Snow White and Dopey.)  One specific room had filled out a pet visit request form, so it was on our radar for a visit.  When we walked in, the little girl started vocalizing her approval and her family got *SO* excited.      Apparently, she hadn’t had any interactions all week…so they were understandably overwhelmed and overjoyed.  Her Dad lifted her out of her hospital bed and placed her hand on Indy’s leg…which Indy responded back with a lick for her forearm.  Her eyes lit up, you could see so much activity going on behind those eyes.  Another one of those moments where we just marvel in the amazing work that can be done between a gentle dog and a sick child.  Her family thanked Jenny endlessly, so happy that Indy could do what no one else had been able to do — they even photographed and video taped the interaction as it was a moment they didn’t want to forget.

The other visit was another that was almost too much.  We were assigned to a floor that has some oncology patients on it, and as a rule, the therapy dogs aren’t allowed to go into those rooms.  We were skipping by all those rooms when a nurse, who looked more than frazzled, tracked us down and asked if we could please just go stand outside one of the onc patient’s rooms.  Happy to oblige, we headed to take our stance in the doorway.  As we approached we could hear why we were needed.  A little boy throwing an absolute temper tantrum — kicking feet, hiccuping breath from all the screaming, and no pants on.  Mom was trying to get him dressed, the nurse was trying to take his vitals, and he was just having a really bad day.  But he saw Indy and there was silence (kudos to Indy by the way for not freaking out at the sounds and sights he just witnessed.)  The little boy asked his Mom if he could visit the puppy, she bargained for putting on pants, and threw Jenny the *BIGGEST* smile and mouthed “thank you” as he relented to getting dressed.  Then he came right over to Indy, threw his arms around his neck and nestled his face into his neck.  When he was finished with his hug, he stepped back to stroke Indy’s ears and talk to him about his day.  It was really sweet.  Indy’s snuck in a kiss to the boy’s cheek and he exclaimed between giggles, “Mommy, the puppy loves me!”  Melt. our. hearts.

And this is how we are kicking off our weekend — what a great way to spend a Friday night!