Raffle Basket Fundraiser

The kind folks at Hudson Veterinary Hospital are holding a raffle to benefit the Akron Children's Hospital Doggie Brigade Program!

HVH CHRISTMAS RAFFLE

“GOING TO THE DOGS” & the Kids!

Dogs bring smiles wherever they go, but nowhere is it more important than where children need a special companion to help them through a difficult time. That’s why we here at Hudson VeterinaryHospital support the Doggie Brigade Program at Akron Children’s Hospital. 

Since 1992, the Doggie Brigade Therapy Program has brought encouragement, comfort and joy to sick kids whose doctors have approved dog visits. Beyond this, hospital staff also appreciates the presence of Doggie Brigade volunteers. They often call for a dog when placing an IV or where trying to motivate a child in physical therapy. “It’s awesome what these dogs can make the patients do; it gets their mind off their sickness.”  

All dogs involved in the program must undergo a veterinary exam and a special behavioral screening process to ensure their suitability for the program.  Once certified, they receive their official Brigade Bandanas, begin making hospital visits and bring on the smiles!  

This year our team has assembled a special raffle gift basket so you, our caring clients, can take part in our effort to support the Doggie Brigade.

• Tickets may be purchased for 1/$1 or 6/$5 from December 1-February 29, at our office, or by phone at 300-650-2929.
• The winner will receive a gift basket filled with pet supplies and special offers for the care and wellbeing of your own furry friends.
• Funds raised from this project will contribute to the certification and supplies needed to train additional Brigade dogs.  
• Drawing for the winning ticket will take place March 1, 2012.  

A wagging tail can do wonders for a sick child!  

Holiday Tree Festival 2011

Gilda attended her first Akron Children's Hospital Holiday Tree Festival last night and it was a huge success on many levels!

{Gilda in the crowd)

In fact, the only disappointment was that our camera malfunctioned and this is our only photo of the evening!

I can't imagine how unsettling it must be for a dog to enter a brand-new building with crowds of people and yet, somehow, Gilda handled it all extremely well!

Gilda seemed a little nervous about the fact that she was in a room full of lighted trees but she willingly met and greeted many many kids and adults and was willing to perform tricks for all of them. (Tricks keep Gilda focused and comfortable as she feels better when she knows exactly what she is supposed to do).

The highlight of the evening was when a woman came over to meet Gilda and told us that she had to spend some time at ACH when she was 11 and that she still cherishes the memories of visits from the Doggie Brigade!! Stories like these make me so proud to be a part of the DB...

We stayed for about 1.5 hours and then left while Gilda was still happy.

The Tree Festival is an amazing event and we are thankful to have been able to be a small part of it!

Trouble With Toddlers

On a recent hospital visit, I was asked to take Gilda into an adjoining room on the Infant/Toddler Unit (7200). Inside the double room were twin boys around 2 years old. Usually this age group is right up Gilda's alley... Usually.
The little guys with their blonde crew cuts were up and running around the room. I got down on the floor next to Gilda and began talking to the boys. One seemed excited to have a dog visitor and the other seemed disinterested at best.
The parents and the nurse were all also in the room so it was somewhat chaotic. Before any of us could even react, *WHAP* One of the boys had picked up his mother's flip-flop and whacked Gilda right over the head with it!
Gilda's response was to drop to her belly and whine about it. Needless to say, I was thrilled with her choice! She truly seemed as shocked and confused that someone would actually strike her as the rest of us were!
Doing my very best to remain calm, I ended the visit and walked her out of the room on a very short leash...
She was visibly jumpy for the rest of her time in the hospital and who could really blame her.

{Ready to go?}

This week, I decided that maybe we should steer clear of Toddlers for awhile until we could do some work and make sure she was comfortable with them again. Gilda seems to do much better in the open waiting areas where she can see the people coming up to meet and greet her. She seems a little unsure about what her 'job' is inside patient rooms. (Sometimes we get on the bed, sometimes we don't. Sometimes I have to stay on the right side of the patient but sometimes it's the left. Sometimes Mom picks my front end up and my back feet slip on the floor. Sometimes she turns me around and tiny people pet my back).

I had the great idea of going to the Surgery Waiting Area on on the 4th floor. Who needs a 'dose of dog' more than kids and their families anxious about surgery?

We checked in at the Reception desk and let the staff know that we'd be around. I saw a large group of people and we slowly made our way toward them. I sat in a chair with Gilda at my feet and introduced her to the large group when suddenly a 3 year-old boy ran straight up to her face like toddlers will do. Oh Jeez...

This time Gilda's response wasn't as perfect as before. Luckily the toddler's mom was right there and was very proactive. She corralled the little guy while I handled Gilda. We had him give her 2 treats for performing a 'sit'. I would have preferred to end the visit there but there were at least 4 other kids in the group that were interested in meeting Gilda and asking questions about her.

With everyone's help, Gilda did very well and all the kids got to   interact with her and have her do tricks. Hopefully her visit gave them all a brief respite while they anxiously awaited news of their little one in surgery.

{Toddlers can be tiring!}

Trading Cards

Yesterday was like Christmas for all the March 2011 New Doggie Brigaders... Our official trading cards are finally here!

Visiting Dog

Gilda is on a regular every-other-Tuesday schedule now and is doing well. We usually start off with some "lobby time" as Gilda enjoys meeting people out in the open.
The elevators and stairwells are becoming much easier for her and she is dealing well with both. She has quickly learned that laying down makes elevator rides much more tolerable! Gilda no longer bolts out of the elevator either!

{Let's go to ACH!}

Yesterday we did 2 'on the bed' visits and Gilda tolerated both fairly well. She prefers to sit with her back to the patient but can be coaxed closer with a small treat. One of the patients exclaimed "Can you get a sheet?!" the minute she saw Gilda. She had been in the hospital for 9 days and had the routine down pat!
Gilda is also dealing with the floors much better and is willing to do her tricks (even waving goodbye) on the vinyl floors.
My one minor concern at this point is that she seems to already be constantly looking for treats since she has been offered so many. Otherwise, I think she is doing extremely well!

Gilda Is Official!

Yesterday we met with Janet at the hospital for our final mentoring session! Gilda was visibly more relaxed but still vigilant. While still uncomfortable, she was willing to get on and off of the elevator each time.

After signing in at the Volunteer Office, we set off for the 7th floor to visit a 4 year old on the 'Special Request' list. Gilda did well during the visit and was able to visit another child on the floor.

We had 2 visits on the 8th floor even helping to quiet a young patient who was crying about taking medicine. The sight of a dog outside her doorway seemed to make her more willing to cooperate in effort to get a better look at Gilda! The second patient was a 6 or 7 year-old boy who was lying on his belly in bed. He happily chatted away about his pet cats and then asked if we could bring Gilda to his house to meet them! (I explained that his cats probably wouldn't appreciate being herded).

In an effort not to overstimulate her, we took Gilda to a sitting area where she put herself in a down position and was relaxed. 3 'tween' boys came from the elevator and spent some time petting and interacting with her. Gilda remained facing them and interested for the entire visit which made me wonder if a visit to 8100 might be more her speed after all.

Gilda really did well and it's my hope that she gets more comfortable with each visit.

I am excited to get some visits scheduled and working toward building Gilda's confidence while in the hospital. WTG Gilda on a huge dog accomplishment!!!

Gilda Goes A Calling...

On Saturday, May 7, 2011, I met with Janet at Akron Children's Hospital for Gilda's first official  Doggie Brigade visit. We arrived early and I could tell that Gilda was slightly stressed. She seemed nervous about new noises, flooring changes, carts moving, new smells, and probably some things that I was completely unaware of. After signing in at the Volunteer Office, we sat near the Locust Lobby. Despite her nerves, she was visibly excited each time a new person (especially a young one) appeared. She was eager to greet people with her tail wagging.

When Janet arrived, we walked to the Main Lobby and took the dreaded elevator to the 7th floor. After finding many rooms still darkened at 9:00am, we found a 1 year-old awake and sitting on the couch with his Mother. Gilda approached politely and sniffed the little boy's foot and the surrounding area. The patient had little reaction. While I was trying to get Gilda to touch his foot with her nose, the little guy suddenly let out a wail which startled Gilda (and me!) We ended that visit not wanting to upset the patient any further.

As we were walking down a hallway on the 6th floor, a family member asked if we could visit a young girl who was getting ready for surgery. The patient asked if Gilda could get on the bed with her so Janet went to the Clean Supply Room to get a clean sheet. Although Gilda was capable of jumping onto the bed, I chose to lift her up so that she wouldn't land on any part of the patient. In the past, when placed on a bed, Gilda has always curled up next to the patient. Today, however, she was quite tentative. I gave her the 'down' command and she obliged but was still quite stiff. As the patient was reaching to pet her, Gilda turned her head as far away as she could. I could tell that she wanted to get down but I tried to calm her so that the patient could pet her. I am not sure what was bothering her but it could have been many things. There were 4 or 5 visitors in the room, the little girl was wearing a pulse ox on one of her fingers which glows red, etc. I lowered Gilda to the floor and folded the sheet in toward the middle and dropped it into the Dirty Linen Bin in the patient's room. I made sure to give the patient some Hand Sanitizer since she did pet Gilda and we ended the visit.

Next, we walked across the hallway to visit a boy who was laying in bed. He seemed content to look at Gilda while she stood on the floor so we just had a brief visit that way.

By this time, we had taken the elevator 3 times and Gilda was pulling on the leash and acting skittish. Janet and I decided to walk back to the Volunteer Office to go over our training paperwork.

I was actually thrilled with the day. It takes Gilda some time to get used to new surroundings and what is expected of her in those surroundings and my goal was not to push her too far too fast. After all, if visiting isn't fun for Gilda then it's not going to be fun for the patients.

Next Saturday we will travel back to the hospital for the 2011 Doggie Brigade group photo! 95 dogs and their handlers are invited so it should be a riot...

Mentoring Visit 2

Today I met with Janet and Simone for our second mentoring session. Today we visited patients with Janet's Golden Retriever, Rizzo. Like her "sister" Hannah, Rizzo is the ultimate Doggie Brigader with a calm demeanor and an ever-wagging tail.

{Rizzo dressed for Easter}

We started our visit on 8100, the psychiatric unit. This floor is vastly different from the medical floors. The patients spend the majority of their time in the open activity area or in group sessions. These patients are medically stable so there are no IV poles or monitors. Patient rooms are semi-private and are only used for sleeping at night.

There were 4 and 5 kids petting Rizzo at the same time and she was just laying down right in between them all and looking very comfortable. Janet reported to us later that Rizzo looked up at her at one point but was quickly reassured by a pat from Janet.

Next we visited 8200 which is a sort of mixed-bag unit. Patients who use ventilators at home are cared for on this floor when they are hospitalized as well as Ear Nose and Throat patients and Neurosurgery patients. A nurse was attempting to get one of her young patients to walk a few steps so Janet had Rizzo sit outside of her room as an enticement for the little girl to take a few steps.

We then visited 7100 and 7200 which are both Infant/Toddler units for patients between 0 and 5 years of age. We had a few really good responses here with lots of smiles and laughs. Janet explained that when either a small patient or her dog seems uncomfortable, she often finds it helpful to turn her dog around. She explained that it gives a bigger area for the patient to pet and "takes the teeth end out of play" reducing the chance of a nip. A very good lesson!

Gilda will get to come with me to our next mentoring session in 2 weeks and I can't wait! We are getting closer and closer to being official!

Mentoring Visit I

On Saturday April 8 2011, I met with our Doggie Brigade (DB) mentor Janet and another new member, Simone. Janet brought her 4 year-old Golden Retriever, Hannah, along to show us the ropes.

We met in the volunteer office and we were presented with our official volunteer shirts and our new DB aprons, leashes, and bandannas! Janet showed us how to sign in using the new volunteer computer system, where to store our things, and where to find the DB 'special request' list. She also showed us how to use the computer to find out where any other DB teams might be in the hospital to lessen the chance of dog interactions.

[Gilda can't wait to get started!]

We started on 5600 which is the Hematology/Oncology Unit so that we could visit a child whose name was on the special request list.  We were able to visit with 3 patients on this floor before traveling to 6200. This floor is primarily for patients between 13-18 and also has an adult wing (referred to as the CDCU) for those patients over 21 who have 'Chronic Diseases of Childhood'. We had 3 brief visits on this floor with Hannah performing tricks and even getting onto the bed of one adolescent patient. Next we traveled to the School Age Unit or 6100 to visit patients between the ages of 6 and 12.

Between patient visits we discussed DB protocol issues such as:

~ Checking in at each Nursing Station to let staff know that you are on the floor and to see if there are any patient rooms that should not receive a DB visit.
~ Consistently using good hand washing before and after each patient visit
~ Offering Hand Sanitizer to those patients and family members who have petted or interacted with the dog during a visit
~ Using clean linen if the dog will get onto a bed and/or chair and putting the used linens in the appropriate bins at the end of the visit.
~ Knowing what to discuss and what not to discuss with patients and families. Volunteers should not ask about why the patient is hospitalized or personal issues such as where the patient lives. Janet reports that she prefers to talk mainly about her dog and whether or not the patient has pets at home.
~ Being aware of how you end the visit. Janet said that saying, "See you Later" to a school age patient might leave that patient thinking that you'll be back. She said that it is better to say something like, "OK. Hannah is going to visit another patient now".
~ Using courtesy when entering and exiting the elevators by making sure everyone on board is comfortable riding with a dog.
~ Using a short leash to keep your dog near you at all times and never letting another person  handle your DB dog.
~ Being vigilant about reading your dog's cues and knowing when it's time to end your session so that visiting remains a positive adventure for your dog and not a stressful one.

By now we had been in the hospital for 1.5 hours and Janet felt that we had covered enough material and that Hannah had been inside long enough.

As eager as we are to get going with our own visits, this was a very informative and important session for me. I, and probably the majority of people, learn best with a 'Demonstration - Return Demonstration' approach. I truly applaud Akron Children's Hospital for their vigilance in making the Doggie Brigade a wonderful and especially safe program.

Our second mentoring session is scheduled for Thursday April 21 and I can't wait!

Photo Shoot

I think I was as nervous about the photo shoot as I was about the Pet Partners Test itself! This would be Gilda's first time actually inside the hospital and I wanted the experience to be a good one.

There were all sorts of new experiences like the elevator and the revolving door! We didn't even attempt the escalator! There were also lots of new sounds and I'm sure lots of new smells.

On the way from Volunteer Services to the photo studio, we were approached by a boy in a wheelchair and his mother. The boy was about 5 and asked if he could pet Gilda. He waited patiently while she gave him an all-over sniff and then he began petting her. She seemed very happy wagging her tail and staying near him. I told him that she was brand new to the DB and that he was her "very first kid". I would love for him to have one of her trading cards when they are ready.

Next, we were approached by a little girl who was about 4 years old. As she was petting Gilda, Gilda gave her a tiny lick on her forehead. I said, "wow. Gilda must really like you because she never licks anyone!" to which the girl replied, "yeah. she does"!

The most amazing interaction happened after the photo shoot. I took Gilda to the Nursing Office to visit some friends and coworkers. After she had visited everyone and sniffed around sufficiently, she curled up under a desk where she had a good vantage point for watching all the comings and goings. A supervisor came in carrying a 3 year-old boy who was wearing a face mask. She explained that he wanted to see the dog but couldn't touch her because of a recent bone-marrow transplant. As soon as she stood the little boy on the floor, Gilda came from across the room carrying a biscuit, which she dropped onto his shoe. She then laid down at ate her biscuit where he could stand and watch her. No one called her over to the little boy or said anything to direct her to him. I've never seen her do anything like it in the 2 years we've had her!

Becoming a Member of the Doggie Brigade

Akron Children's Hospital has an elite group of volunteers known as 'The Doggie Brigade'. Specially screened dogs and their owners travel to the hospital to visit many hospitalized patients each year.

Having personally witnessed many of these visits, I have seen firsthand just how much a brief visit from a dog can do for patients and their families. I have hoped to be a part of a group like this for years now. Here is how we went about achieving our goal:

In January 2011, I completed a Doggie Brigade application for Gilda and a Volunteer application for myself. These were submitted with a check for $45 to Volunteer Services (330.543.8424).

In February 2011, I attended the Delta Workshop at the hospital. This 8-hour class covered the basics of visiting the hospital with your dog including what is expected of both the handler and the dog. We also discussed the Skills Test and the Aptitude Test and got to watch a demonstration of the tests by a Delta Society evaluator and a current Doggie Brigade Team.

On February 24, 2011 I took Gilda to our veterinarian for a physical including a rectal swab (poor dog) and a throat swab. Our vet also completed the necessary forms for Delta Society.

On February 25, 2011 I took the rectal and throat swabs to the Outpatient Laboratory at Akron Children's Hospital for testing.

On Saturday March 12, 2011, We turned in all of our Delta Pet Partners Registration packet and waited for our turn to be screened. Gilda performed beautifully and successfully passed her Delta Society Pet Partner Test! This was the biggest and most important hurdle to becoming a Doggie Brigade member. The test was held at a building adjacent to the hospital. The test itself takes about 20 minutes and is led by an evaluator. Other trained volunteers act as patients, patient families, and a crowd of strangers at various points throughout the test.

On March 24, 2011 we had Gilda's photo taken at the hospital. This is the photo that will be framed and hung on the wall at Akron Children's and the photo that will appear on her official Doggie Brigade 'trading cards' that we will hand out to the patients that we visit.

Also on March 24, 2011 we received our acceptance email from Delta Society which we forwarded to volunteer services. We are now ready to begin our mentoring sessions and we can't wait!