Sometimes You Just Need A Paw

 I've mentioned before that we do nursing home visits with the dogs.  These happen on Thursday nights, and a lot of times it's hard to get motivated to turn around and go after a long day at work.  Sometimes we indulge ourselves and stay home, but we try not to miss going.  Of course, this week was even tougher when Blueberry limped into the kitchen while Bunny and I were packing up and wagged her tail in that hopeful way that she does when she wants to go somewhere with us.  I told her it was going to take a bit more rest and that she needed to go lay down and keep Lilac company. 

When I started visiting nursing homes with Treat, I'm sure that she wasn't perfect, but it's hard to remember that.  There was gentle coaching and training that happened, and she had a natural aptitude for visiting.  She was tolerant enough to let a little old blind lady poke at her face and fuss with her collar.  Going up to people to say hi became natural for her and there was never any medical equipment or condition that ever deterred her.  I admit that when I started visiting with Bunny after Treat had passed, it was hard for me not to resent starting over a little bit and also not to just miss her perfection after working and working with Bunny to try to get her to do what I wanted.

That's not to say that Bunny doesn't do well, though.  She does and the people there are always thrilled to see her.  I guess part of it is just that insecure part of me inside that everyone has who worries that everyone else's dog is doing so much better at visiting than my own.  It's still hard for me not to think of her as the inexperienced youngster of the group.  There are some dogs in our group who have been visiting longer than Bunny has been alive.  I can't expect her to behave as if she has more experience than her short life has been blessed with.  I suppose it's the same thing I did as a kid, too, only acting up and embarrassing my parents when there were other people to witness the event.  Sorry Mom and Dad!   It was Julie who made me do it.

Most of the visits we make are unremarkable and not really worth talking a lot about.  They're just ordinary visits that allow me to share my dog with others, tell stories and forget about the cares of my day, and be transported through many elderly people's words back to times of dogs who lived long ago.  Recently, we added a new Thursday visit to our roster at a new facility that quite honestly is so nice that I wish I could live there.   It's a very new, modern facility, but it feels so homey and comfortable.  The residents all have rooms, but there are different little lounges throughout the place and it's a very common sight to see groups of people gathered in nooks and alcoves chatting away.  The nursing staff is sweet and compassionate, too. 

While we were visiting this week, Bunny and I had walked down a hallway and around a small loop in the building.  I almost didn't go, but Bunny seemed eager to stretch her legs and I wanted to work on keeping her attention on me, so we set off to see if anyone wanted to chat.  In the far back hallway, we met a woman who said that there was a lady who was laying down and she needed to get some help for her.  I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, but in order to try to keep her calm, I agreed that I'd see what I could do.  We went around a corner and found a woman lying on the floor in the middle of the hallway.  Definitely not good! 

I walked around her and leaned down to ask if she was okay.  She smiled and said something about needing to get back up, and I could see her wheelchair a bit behind her.  I remembered seeing her in the chair earlier.  I told her that her friend had gone to get help and that I'd just stay there with her until help got there.  I sat in the floor beside her and Bunny laid down.  She wanted to hold someone's hand, and darned if Bunny didn't offer her paw while I held the other hand.  I was pretty surprised, but Bunny laid there quietly, leaning down to sniff the lady from time to time and distract her while we waited for the nurse's aide to find the head nurse to help get the woman moved a little to see if she was alright.  Several of the people in our group walked by and commented on her sweet behavior. 

I honestly can say that I have been proud of Bunny over a lot of things, but this one was one that I will remember as one of her sweetest moments.  With all the ugliness that we see in the world from people, sometimes it's nice just to have a paw to hold on to.  I'll always believe that the world would be a better place if we all took a moment to behave more like our dogs!

We're participating in this Saturday's Pet Blog Hop, hosting by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you'd like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

Christmas Party Girl

Bunny here at the keyboard sharing a few things I haven't had time to so far.

We might have mentioned that December is a pretty busy month for us.  I got to go to not one, but two parties this month and I wanted to share a little bit about that.  Sometimes it pays to be a cute and popular little hound.

One of them was at the nursing home we visit.  It was our last visit for the month and they had requested that we visit the assisted living facility part last since they were having a Christmas concert, so we went over to the Alzheimer's wing first and worked our way back.  I dressed up in my fancy collar, coat and had my toenails painted Fire Hydrant Red.  I have to say that I did look very festive.  Anyroo, I headed over to the assisted living building with my friends and they were having a reception after the concert. 

We were staying in the front room, so as not to bother all the party goers who might not want to see us.  It's hard to imagine that anyone wouldn't want to see us, but I saw the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, so anything is possible.  Well, the director lady came out and invited us to go into the reception.  She said the people would love us, but we still didn't want to start a riot or anything, since we tend to be like rock stars there, and we quietly socialized with the people in the front.  The next thing we knew, the lady was bringing the punch bowl out to the front room and all these people were following.  That punch bowl had the most delicious-looking pink punch I have ever laid eyes on.  I admit it, I was mesmerized by it.  The woman came over and handed Mom a glass of the punch.  Some of the people were noticing that I was interested in that punch, so when Mom got almost done with hers, she let me have some.  That really got the party started.  The next thing I knew, everyone was taking pictures of me drinking out of the glass and fussing over me.  The woman even asked Mom if I wanted a refill.  I said yes, but Mom declined and said we had more visiting to do. 

After we got all done visiting, we got presents from the ladies who organize our visiting group, which is called Paw to Paw.  We got some different treats and a toy each, and Blueberry and I got a notepad with our names on it and Morgan got one with her name on it, and they even have pictures of a Greyhound and German Shepherd on them.  We are really excited and impressed by these.  Now people will really know that the notes came from us.

My second party was at Mom's last day of school.  My number one fan sent me a message on Facebook and asked if I was going to be visiting at school any before Christmas.  When I found out that the last day before break was her last day of school there ever, I begged Mom to let me go.  She said I could come on the last day, which was a fun day.  I told Miss Mikayla that I'd be there and even wore my pink Winter collar for her because pink is what she asked me to wear.  I took her one of my special Christmas cards and gave her my last trading card, too.  She brought me some pink treats that look like little cupcakes, too.  I will really miss seeing her at school, but I hope she does great at her new school!

I also helped the kids in Mom's class deliver Christmas presents to people in the building who help them, like the librarian and the lunch ladies.  We made newspaper snowballs for a snowball fight and I went to music class with them.  That part was great!  They sang with jingle bells and I loved that part.  The songs sounded really festive.

All these parties have been so much fun.  I think I was born to be a socialite.  I've tried to convince Mom and Dad that we need to attend more parties, or have one at our house, but they say they are partied out.  I'll come up with a plan after I take a nap and catch up on my sleep after all the excitement of the holidays!

A Strange Visitor

Bunny here, writing a little about our nursing home visit last week.

Usually, I don't say much about our visits, or let Mom or Dad take pictures, but it was Morgan's first time visiting there, so we took a few pictures for posterity.  I'm not going to lie.  I wasn't quite sure how my wolfy sister would do there.  Just getting out the door to go was a bit of a circus. 

When Morgan figures out that we're going somewhere, usually she gets so wound up that Dad just ends up taking her out to the van early so that the rest of us can get ready in peace.  Thursday night was no different.  Morgan was out in the van, and then Mom put my fancy collar on me.  Blueberry got all wound up, so Mom and Dad caved and let her go, too.  That meant that Blueberry had to visit with Mom and me.  That's okay, but it cramps my style a little bit. 

Of course, Morgan didn't appreciate Dad wandering around the place and taking her where she couldn't see the rest of us, but she held it together really well.  All the people who saw her really liked her.  We kept our visit short because Dad wanted to end the visit on a good note and because Mom was getting a little frustrated with Blueberry.  She always zigs when everyone else zags, if you know what I mean.

So, we finished up with a little socializing with some of our Paw to Paw friends and then we called it a night.  Of course, the best part came at the end.  We stopped at McDonald's Golden Dinner Palace and Dad got us French fries.  A just reward for a job well done, I say!

Sometimes Public Service Is Its Own Reward

Bunny here, finally able to type at the keyboard.

Well, I'm not going to lie.  I'm feeling a little left out lately.  Lilac and Blueberry both seem to have some kind of understanding with Morgan, but she keeps trying to put my whole head in her mouth and put her paws on my back and I don't like it.  Plus, I got in trouble with Dad when I told her off.   This is really not the way a Greyhound princess is meant to live.

I was really happy last night when Mom got out my perfume, a fancy collar and my harness and told Morgan to go in the crate.  It was time for me to go visit at the nursing home and since Dad had a meeting, that meant that I was the only one going.  My tail wagged for the first time this week. 

We arrived at the nursing home and I was ecstatic to see my civilized canine friends there.  It was just wonderful to do a little socializing.   I watched Vinny and Chip do some tricks to entertain the people down in the Alzheimer's wing and Lil had her special stool with her so she could get up high enough to visit with the residents who couldn't bend down to pet her.  Max and Journey were there, too, working the crowd and sharing tail wags.  Everybody, canine and human, was happy to see me and I was glad I went to bring good cheer, because it surely brought me some.   It's funny how that works!

By the time we left, I was feeling much better, until I started thinking about Morgan pouncing on me when we got home.  Then something amazing happened.  Mom turned into Dairy Queen and I got my own strawberry sundae.  It was such a wonderful night.  I wasn't expecting to get ice cream, but Mom said I'd done such a wonderful job visiting that I'd earned it. 

The best part was coming home smelling like strawberry sundae when nobody else got any!  I'm glad that Mom remembers that I'm special after all.   Now I just need to get Morgan to understand how one treats royalty.

The Price of Volunteering

People who have known us for a while know that we have been volunteers with several dog-related activities for some time. One of our favorites is visiting at the nursing home with Paw to Paw, a dog therapy group in Bloomington. We have gone over there for more years than I can count. We started after we'd had Treat for about two years when we realized that it simply wasn't possible for us to ever pet her enough in a shameless bid for free supplemental petting. It worked like a charm. Treat was a natural and Hawk did tricks to amuse the crowd when he didn't feel like being too close to people. After he was sidelined due to an odd shot reaction, Blueberry began to go, and she enjoyed it much more than he did, so he retired from visiting. He was more than happy to help Lilac hold down the dog beds at home. After Treat passed away, I looked for a new hound that I thought would be good with nursing home visits, since my husband and Blueberry are a pretty tight team. Bunny hasn't disappointed me. She turns on the charm the minute we walk in and she doesn't leave anybody wanting for an opportunity to pet a greyhound.

We're often asked why we go all the way to Bloomington to volunteer. It's not particularly close to us and we have had to cut back because gas has become so expensive, but the dogs love it and so do the people there. For many of them, it will be the only visitor they get all month. Often they tell us stories about dogs they had when they were young or that were particular favorites. I do have some of the stories memorized because I've heard them so often, but it costs me nothing to hear them again. It would be closer and easier for us to visit in Peoria, but unfortunately, the local animal welfare society there has a stranglehold on visits to anything in town. We've taken our therapy dog test with TDI, a national therapy dog group, and I am not comfortable with their test nor their policies on visiting. So, we've enjoyed going to Bloomington for many years and have been satisfied with our decision.

Getting a dog certified as a therapy dog isn't cheap, but I feel it is worth it. We took a basic obedience class together, which is not required, but is very worthwhile. One component of the therapy dog test is passing the Canine Good Citizen test and obedience helps a great deal with that. So, there's obedience class for around sixty dollars, a vet check, and around a hundred dollars in fees for the dog to be evaluated, although that is only when you take the test. After that, there are yearly maintenance fees to keep your certification, which isn't as expensive.


One thing that I've always dreamed of doing as a therapy dog team is visiting in the children's ward of the hospital. Recently, the local hospital sent out a plea in the local newspaper saying that they were looking for therapy dog teams to visit at the hospital, including in the children's ward. My husband and I got pretty excited, because we have looked for this opportunity for a while. I knew that it would be through the local welfare group again, but I was considering biting the bullet and signing up anyhow. We'd just be extra qualified if we took a national test and then passed their test as well, I reasoned. Then we got to their website and the details. They wanted three hundred dollars to take this evaluation to volunteer in the hospital. My husband and I decided that was the end of that dream.

Not too long ago, we ran into an acquaintance who does volunteer with this group. He was telling us about how he is in the program to volunteer at the hospital. Often he tries to recruit us to volunteer with this group. We had a pretty interesting conversation with him, while I was having a completely different conversation about it in my head.

Volunteer Man: The program is great! You should really try it!

Me: Yeah, I've heard this song and dance before... I was interested, but honestly, three hundred dollars seems like a lot to ask from volunteers.

Volunteer Man: Yeah, but, you can get sponsors to help with part of the fee.

Me: Um, we're in the middle of a recession! I'm sure people are shelling out sheckles for that kind of stuff left and right! That seems like a lot of work and a lot to ask of people...

Volunteer Man: Really, you can get the price cut down to just about half the fees coming out of your pocket!

Me: I have moths flying out of my pockets! Well... What is the test like? How many people who have taken the test passed it?

Volunteer Man: There are a group of people who evaluate the class. Over half of our class didn't make it. The testing was pretty subjective, but we're one of twelve who passed.

Me: (If you have met me in person, you can probably imagine the look on my face at this point. If you haven't, picture Will Ferrell's face when he spies the fake Santa at the store in Elf.) Oh yeah! Sign me up! I, um, wish we could, but it cost us enough to be ready to visit the nursing homes and do the READ program!

Volunteer Man: Oh, you can't visit nursing homes with the dog if you take them to the hospital! They track in germs! You can still do READ, though.

Me: (I was completely dumbfounded, but I think I managed to keep my mouth closed. That or my husband closed it for me.) Germs? The hospital is full of germs! Are you kidding?

Volunteer Man: Old people in nursing homes have germs that are dangerous to people in the hospital. They don't allow dogs that have visited nursing homes to come in.

Me: What happens when old people go into the hospital? Well, thanks for the info, it's certainly a lot to think about!

I have to admit that I've still thought about visiting the hospital, partly because Bunny is so good with young children. However, I just don't have the money required to swing it and then I think of the people we visit in the nursing home, too. They are thrilled to see us when we arrive. The people in the hospital will most likely always have someone to visit them and bring them cheer. We'll stick to the nursing home and enjoy the priceless feeling of being the bright spot in somebody's day.

Howl O Ween Treats

Bunny here, taking over the keyboard this time, since I am a coauthor on this blog. Mom and Dad started talking about our nursing home visit last night and saying that we had to get ready for the nursing home visit tonight. My ears perked up a bit. Going to the nursing home means that people there will want to pet me. Sometimes they even feed me stuff. It's always great fun! Mom said she needed a model for the ghost costumes they were making, so I jumped off the couch and offered my services. I didn't ask what this job entailed, but as it turns out, it involved me standing up a lot while Dad cut up a sheet a lot. When they started gushing about how cute I was, I knew that I'd hit pay dirt. Then it came time for Blueberry's costume. She was supposed to be a ghost like me. Dad called her and she ran in the dog crate. Dad picked up the scraps of sheet he'd cut off and said that Blueberry could be a mummy. It was getting late, so Mom agreed to it, even though she wasn't crazy about the idea.

As it got closer to time to go, Mom started thinking about how long it was going to take to wrap Blueberry up in those strips and get them to stay in place without slipping off, so she decided to get one of the costumes that Treat wore a while ago and let Blueberry wear that. "She's persnickety about what she'll wear on her head," I heard Mom say. They decided to test it out on Blueberry real fast. Blueberry started shaking her head around. Mom asked me if I wanted to try it. Of course I did! Once Mom put the mask on my head, I didn't see what the fuss was all about. I went back to eating dinner and Mom and Dad both laughed and commented on how cute I am. I wagged my tail. They decided that I would get to wear the dragon costume and Blueberry could be the ghost. I just knew nobody was going to be able to resist me in that costume. We got in the van and Mom reminded us that it was Halloween at the nursing home, but not to be begging for treats. She said it wasn't really Halloween yet and I'd have to wait a few weeks for the real thing to get here. I laid down and waited for us to get there.

When we arrived, we got out of the van and went to the grassy spot out front where we take a little powder break, if you know what I mean. Only this time, I realized I'd hit the jackpot! There in front of me was a Halloween treat, just waiting to be plucked. A plump little rabbit was sitting, practically under my nose. Well, I did what any self respecting hound would do -- I went for it. That darned leash really cramped my style. I was left with some tail fuzz between my teeth, but no rabbit meat. We headed into the first building, I put on my dragon mask and went to work. Everybody went crazy over me and I forgot about the cottontail outside.

Soon it was time to leave and go over to the other side. Darned if that rabbit didn't hop right under my nose and nearly knock Mom down. It was an insult and I'd have had him if Mom hadn't pulled us back the other way so fast. That darned leash foiled my plans again. Anyhow, we went into the other building and I went to work, oozing cuteness and working the crowd. When Blueberry saw how much attention I was getting, she finally decided to put her costume on, too. Well, part of it anyhow. I think I looked cuter in it, but she had to have something. People thought she was pretty cute, too, but most of them were admiring me. It was a great time and I can't wait to go back. There was lots of petting and if I play my cards right, that rabbit will lose the next round. I hope everybody has a safe and happy Halloween!