Posted on 07/19/2014 2:23:20 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows
Baxter is a living teddy bear – he looks and feels like one, and brings as much comfort as one. This 19-year-old therapy dog can no longer get around for himself, and has to be wheeled around in a wagon, but that doesn’t stop him from bringing happiness and a little love to elderly and terminal patients in the hospital.
“This is Baxter, my 19 ½ -year-old certified therapy dog, who works at San Diego Hospice in the Institute for Palliative Medicine,” explained author Melissa Joseph. “It’s an in-patient care center where people are at the end of their life. Baxter enters a room in his little red wagon because he can no longer walk, and he bonds with patients, many of whom cannot walk as well.”
Melissa hoists her 37-pound teddy bear onto patients’ beds if they would like him up there. Sometimes he just snuggles, and other times he gives smooches that seem to last forever. Some patients have no one else to visit them, and Baxter is a beacon of light in an otherwise dreary stage in their lives.
(Excerpt) Read more at lifewithdogs.tv ...
doggieping
How sweet! Dogs can be a real comfort.
They can. (RIP Janey. You were a good girl.)
Monitor is OK - it’s these damn glasses that are going blurry...got to get new ones.
Hey, mine too.
No kidding.
Couldn’t watch all of it.
A very sweet story. Thank you.
We used to bring our first Golden to nursing homes and it was amazing the life they can bring to these folks in the darker days of their lives.
You’re welcome, and amen.
With all of the creeps we see in the news every day, it’s comforting to know that there are so many good people still out there. I knew they were there, but it’s nice to see it sometimes, especially at a site like this.
You know, while it’s great that a dog can be such a comfort to those who are terminal, the headline just struck me as being truly pathetic.
It’s revealing that we have come to such a point in our society that we have to look to or feel like it’s animals that give us meaning.
We should be getting that from and giving it to other people.
I agree — the title is indeed very poor — I think what they tried to convey that some people really don’t have anyone who cares about them, and the dog is the only one who cares.
This, unfortunately is not far from the truth in many cases — a really sad commentary on our society.
My dog Hairy is this kind of therapy dog. We go to convalescent homes, hospitals and other places where folks are stuck without much love and attention. Hairy loves them and they love him back. He seems to really enjoy it and we belong to a group of maybe 250 dogs and their owners who do this in Houston and the surrounding area.
Go Hairy!
Hairy says Hi! :)
Awww!
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