I first heard about Pet Therapy from Chris Waybright who was participating at Huntington Hospital with her dog, Baxter. When we got McEnroe as a puppy, I decided to prepare for us to do pet therapy together.
After McEnroe matured and was well behaved, we completed the required specialized training and began at Huntington Hospital. We visit patients, families and staff. McEnroe will even get into the bed with the patient if they want! Keep in mind that these are twin sized beds and McEnroe weighs 90 pounds. He seems to know that being careful is important as he steps from the chair to the bed and gently lies next to the person so they can cuddle and pet him easily. At the LAC Church Picnic, I met Pam Kaiser and her dog Tucker and found out about the Lake Ave pet therapy program! Pam helped us get started with visits at Villa Gardens Retirement Home. We visit the convalescent hospital and assisted living facility almost every Friday. The activities directors help us make the most of our visits each week. Many of the residents know us by name now. At Villa Gardens, McEnroe can be a little more animated than at the hospital so he will do some simple tricks for the residents and entertain them with his antics. He even gets standing ovations sometimes. It is really fun to see the residents laughing, clapping and asking him to “shake!”
McEnroe and I both look forward to these visits. Often we see a huge change during the visit – from a sad, lonely or disconnected look to big smiles. Many of those we see have had special dogs in their lives and really love to cuddle and pet McEnroe while reminiscing about their pets.
We carry a small photo album with some pictures of McEnroe and some of him with our family. The people we visit really seem to enjoy looking at the pictures a lot. The absolute favorite picture in the album has been the picture of McEnroe when he was about nine weeks old. He was almost pure white and his nose was still black then (it changed to liver color when he was about one year). Everyone just LOVES this photo. Our main objective is to give the patient or resident something to brighten their day or distract from problems they might be facing. It is almost like magic sometimes to see the change in demeanor that a simple visit and companionship can make!
One of my favorite things is to visit a Lake Avenue member at Huntington or Villa Gardens. I love praying with them and being able to share our faith. God certainly knew what he was doing when He created dogs. McEnroe is definitely God’s instrument of love and I think he knows it.
Please contact Linda if you have a friend or family member at Huntington or Villa Gardens and would like to schedule a visit. If you’re interested in participating with your dog in the LAC’s Pet Therapy Program, please let us know at or 818.406.7166.