My Own Bit of Therapy

                                              

I recently received some unfortunate news concerning a family member. Over the course of the following days I turned to Maggie as a source of comfort. As this was not my only time I have literally sat on my kitchen floor snuggling with Maggie I got to thinking… when I take Maggie on her visits the time allotted is one hour. We do this so not to wear out the dogs. When we are at the hospital we are on the go and move from room to room. There is no set time for each room but we try to visit as many rooms as possible. My question is how much benefit does one really get from a few minute visit from Maggie? What I mean to say is when I was on my kitchen floor with Maggie and feeling very down I spent quite some time with her-as much time as I needed till I felt a little better. I’m not saying that the people in the hospital are all feeling down but does a quick visit really elevate their mood?

Well, I certainly hope so. I also know for a fact that for the elderly people we visit it gives them something to trigger a memory, especially if they’ve had a pet before in their life. Hopefully this will be a happy memory.

Another thought worth mentioning is that quite often while either walking Maggie (especially over the summer at the shore) or else just sitting outside of Starbucks I will be approached by an individual to say Maggie reminds them of either their dog or a dog they know . This starts a conversation while they are petting her. This leads to a continued conversation about Maggie being a therapy dog etc. etc.

I’ve gotten a couple of responses of “I’ve been thinking about doing that with my dog.”

It makes me happy to be able to share my life with random people. It bothers me that we pass people on the street without uttering a hello every so often. I like to connect with people.

A dog can really bring people together in so many ways!