Therapy Dogs Bring Comfort to Others

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The 3-year-old boy in a wheelchair watched as Mary Lee Kirkum and Swanson, her springer spaniel, approached him in the physical therapy room at the Marquette hospital.

This duo, a trained therapy team, came to see if a little “puppy love” might motivate the boy, who had refused to even try to stand up after his back surgery.

“The little boy took one look at Swanson, grabbed on to him and pulled himself up,” Mary Lee recalls. “I was watching his father standing off to the side, and he had tears streaming down his face. These animals work their magic in many ways. As the human half of a therapy team, it’s hard to describe what goes on with these animals and how everyone benefits from contact with them.”

Everyone who has a dog in the family knows full well why they’re called our “best friends.”

But nurturing people can become a true calling for some pooches. Unlike task-oriented service dogs, therapy dogs often have a more zen-like job, just to … be (or, more specifically, just to be there).

Their calm presence can bring comfort to people under stress of grieving, recovery, depression or other anxiety-inducing pressures like final exams.

All around Lake Superior, organizations and health care operations find that dogs and other pets make great volunteer additions to keep up good spirits.

Some animals seem naturally adept as therapy aides, but certification requires socialization and obedience.

Certain dog breeds fit well for the tasks. Five years ago when Keena Jones of Munising retired from the Michigan Department of Corrections, she wanted to keep giving back to her community. Online, she’d seen a Great Dane therapy dog, and when she got her own Great Dane, the idea clicked. “When I got Zoey and saw the white heart-shaped patch on her chest, I decided it was meant for Zoey to be a therapy dog. I found my niche.”

Luckily for Keena and Zoey, one of Michigan’s largest therapy-animal training programs was nearby in Marquette.

SuperiorLand Pet Partners, tied to a program based in Bellevue, Washington, offers two certified instructors to teach classes, as well as   five certified evaluators – the only ones in the state of Michigan. Pets must be 1 year or older and have lived for six months in one household to be eligible. Handlers take an eight-hour in-person or online training course. Pets must pass an aptitude and skills test and a veterinary check. Generally some basic obedience training is helpful.

Dave Law of Agate Harbor remembers when his Newfoundland Miche took the challenging aptitude final exam, off leash in a mall. “She had to sit and stay while I turned a corner out of sight and had to be there when I returned. They knocked over a big stack of metal chairs next to her, and she was not allowed to respond or flinch. And then they staged a fight near her – because therapy dogs go into psychiatric wards and, well, things can happen – and she was not allowed to respond. She passed with flying colors.”

There is this “complex” test covering the broadest variety of therapy settings, and a less rigorous “predictable” test that qualifies a dog or other pet for more simple meet-and-greet interactions, says Patty Cornish with the all-volunteer SuperiorLand group.

“Pet Partners sets a testing level for pet therapy,” she explains, adding “not just dogs, it can be cats, guinea pigs, llamas, horses.”

Originally started by a Marquette physical therapist, the SuperiorLand program trains human-pet teams for community health care needs.

“We have 40 teams working in Marquette alone, plus we have teams working in Delta, Alger and Houghton counties,” says Mary Lee Kirkum, an officer, instructor and evaluator for SuperiorLand. One therapy animal team includes a miniature horse and its owner.

SuperiorLand teams visit hospitals, physical therapy sessions, hospices, schools, universities and libraries. They attend the annual Special Olympics at Bay Cliff Health Camp.

As with the 3-year-old boy in a wheelchair, physical therapy can be enhanced – and get faster improvements – with a dog, Mary Lee says. “That’s because it’s more fun to brush a dog than to turn a peg over. It’s more fun to walk a dog on a leash than to walk on a beam.”

In Read-To-Me programs, the dogs’ nonjudgmental presence allows children to naturally develop confidence in their abilities.

Dave Law recalls one example. “Miche was assigned to a little girl who was very bright, and she could read, but she read so fast no one could understand a word she was saying. Over the course of her reading to Miche, her reading out loud became completely normal. It was astounding to watch her connection with Miche and to witness how it worked.”

The calm nature of the dogs also has proven helpful in community bite prevention programs teaching children how safely to approach – and not to approach – dogs.

“Children can safely practice on a therapy dog, and nothing bad will happen,” says Mary Lee. “They learn how to safely interact with animals.”

Comfort at the end of life

In Duluth, one of the Big Lake region’s newest therapy dog programs brings comfort to families and patients at St. Luke’s Hospice Duluth. The program, started in July 2015, graduates therapy teams to work only in hospice.

Kelly Zapp, St. Luke’s hospice volunteer coordinator, does the initial recruitment, looking within the Duluth area for suitable dog-human teams.

The handlers first go through standard hospice volunteer training with Kelly, and then the dogs and handlers attend Canine Comfort University, a three-day training program run by Molly Johnson of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, who travels around the region.

“The bulk of this training is aimed at the owner,” says Molly, “but we also do comprehensive training for the dog because we have to ensure the safety of everyone involved … focusing on dog communication and behavior, the art of visiting and recognizing anxiety.”

Team visits with hospice patients range from 15 to 45 minutes, once or twice a week. St. Luke’s hospice program usually has about 60 patients and has eight therapy teams. Kelly and Molly hope to get eight more teams trained and registered this fall.

“This program is really worth the effort,” says Kelly. “These dogs bring such comfort and joy to our patients. It’s wonderful to see them interact. The owner and dog are a true team, and what these dogs do brings joy to the owners, too.”

Accidental algebra aide

Not all dogs adept at therapy come up through the certification process, or so it appears for one U.P. pooch. SweetPea, a standard poodle, has official “therapy dog” designation at Horizons High School in Mohawk, an alternative high school in the CLK School District in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Meg North, SweetPea’s owner, uses her as an aid in algebra class at Horizons High School. But SweetPea came to her vocation totally by accident (in this case, one at home that caused an injury needing frequent care).

“My principal gave me permission to bring her to work while she healed,” says Meg. “That’s how she first showed up in my classroom.”

What happened next amazed Meg and the principal.

“This is an alternative high school,” says Meg, “and many of the kids who attend come from very difficult circumstances. They’re struggling with things they can’t control, issues with their families and home life. Many of them are in subsidized housing that doesn’t allow pets, so they’ve never been around animals.

“For any high school kid, but especially those who are struggling, algebra can really mess with your mind. It’s not that you can’t do it, it’s that you’ve spent years in school thinking you can’t do it. It becomes an emotional issue, based on stress, and the stress just keeps building. You’ve got to find a way to discharge that stress, and let the kids realize they can do algebra.”

During that recovery week, the kids petted SweetPea and got puppy kisses in return. The classroom atmosphere seemed lighter and the students’ learning more focused. By the end of that week, the principal contacted the superintendent of the CLK district to request that SweetPea be declared an official in-class therapy dog. That was nine years ago.

“I think one of the reasons she’s so effective,” says Meg, “is because she’s a fixture. She’s always there. She’s not a novelty that just shows up once in a while and causes a commotion.”

Meg has countless stories as to how SweetPea has made an impact. “I had a kid come in one morning before class, completely done in by what was going on in his home. … It was really bad, and he asked to not be called upon. He sat down in his chair, his entire body slumped, head on his desk, no eye contact, defeated. SweetPea walked over to him, and he started absentmindedly petting her, not even realizing he was petting her. Moments later, he picked up the pencil that had been placed in front of him. His entire body posture changed. His head came off the desk, he sat up straight, got things organized, and by the time the rest of the class was arriving, he was ready to go, wanting to know what we were doing today.”

Darryl Pierce, superintendent of the CLK School District adds, “Therapy dogs can be a strong sense of support for students when they are facing a problem or unpleasant situations in their lives. Dogs have a sense when someone needs attention and move to that person to comfort and be there for them. SweetPea gives the students unconditional love and affection at the school, which many of the students need at critical times in their lives.”

The students aren’t the only benefactors, Meg admits. “SweetPea also affects me, and I know other therapy dog owners will verify this. When you’re working in a stressful environment, be it a nursing home, hospice or an alternative high school, it’s stressful for everyone. SweetPea allows me to continue bringing patience and understanding to my job on days when it’s really challenging. If you can do anything for yourself, to be bolstered in the face of challenges, then you’re ahead. SweetPea elevates everyone who encounters her.”

Trained or not, in a library, classroom or hospital, therapy pets seem to work miracles – every day.

How to Help

If you and your pet are interested in becoming a therapy team, here are contacts from this story.

SuperiorLand Pet Partners, www.superiorlandpetpartners.org

In-person handling training, $40 • Online training, $75 • Certification application, $50

Pet Partners, the national organization, petpartners.org

Bellevue, Wash. 425-679-5500

St. Luke’s Hospice Duluth

Contact Kelly Zapp, volunteer coordinator, at 218-249-6105 or Kelly.Zapp@slhduluth.com  

Therapy Dogs International is a good general information resource at tdi-dog.org

Lesley DuTemple lives on the shore of Lake Superior with her exuberant golden retriever Panda, who, sadly, will never be a therapy dog.