Devoted

by Rebecca Ascher-Walsh

  Concerned that a puppy would prove to be too difficult to raise properly, Greco contacted Close to Home Animal Rescue on a recommendation from her sister-in-law. The group was beginning a pilot program that would bring dogs into nursing homes. Close to Home Animal Rescue introduced Greco to three different dogs, but ultimately it was Alfie, an older yellow Labrador retriever mix who had been rescued from a shelter just a few days before she was to be euthanized, who immediately won everyone over. “She wasn’t trained as a therapy dog, but she was a great dog. She approached three residents and let them love on her,” remembers Greco. “And it was like she had always been there.”

  Despite her lack of formal training, Alfie—or Miss Alfie, as the residents fondly refer to her—has behaved perfectly from the start. “The only thing she had a bit of hesitancy about was the residents in wheelchairs, but we worked with her on that and she’s great,” says Greco. At night, Alfie retires to her bed at the 24-hour nursing station; by day, she wanders the facility, making rounds. “She has many roles here. She will go into the beauty salon and lie there while people are having their hair done. People said we would have trouble getting people taking her out, but residents fight over walking her. We have one lady who has a little depression problem but if she’s having a bad day she will sit with Miss Alfie and talk to her, and it helps. She plays with people’s grandchildren and other dogs if a visitor brings one. She is everything everyone needs her to be.”

  DOGS HELPING OTHERS

  Smoky, a four-pound Yorkshire terrier, is recognized as the first therapy dog because of her service comforting wounded soldiers in the 233rd Station Hospital in New Guinea during World War II.

  In 2011, the American Kennel Club created the AKC Therapy Dog Program honoring dogs who are working in the field in order to advance the work of visiting therapy dogs and other experts in the field. In July 2011, the AKC bestowed the first “Th.D.” titles on six dogs who have helped improve people’s lives. The dogs were recognized for their community service and the help they provide to improve the well-being of others.

  With more than 5 million people currently suffering from dementia—which is a number expected to reach upwards of 15 million by 2050—researchers have been spurred to discover new ways to alleviate the effects of the disease, which is marked by the gradual deterioration of mental functioning. Top of the treatment list is animal therapy. One study, published by the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, involved 56 nursing home residents with dementia who were asked to interact with real dogs, a robotic dog, a puppy video, and a stuffed dog. The study’s conclusion: “Nursing homes should consider animal-assisted therapy and dog-related stimuli, as they successfully engage residents with dementia.”

  Risë VanFleet, Ph.D., a child and family psychologist who has helped develop the field of animal-assisted play therapy, which integrates interaction with animals into therapy sessions, says having a dog on the premises of nursing homes helps in more ways than just the obvious benefit of added affection. “I’ve seen examples where two older people might have the same conversation day after day, and all of a sudden a dog comes in and they are interacting with each other and sharing smiles in a totally different way. The dog has a social lubricant effect, which is really important for people who are living more socially isolated lives.”

  At Victoria House, Alfie works her magic every day. “Everyone is involved in her well-being. She tore her ACL and we had to take her to the emergency room. We probably had 20 residents sitting on the front porch when she returned, waiting to make sure she was OK,” says Greco. “We often say she was placed here for a reason, because she has truly been a blessing. She has made a difference in all of our lives.”

  Alfie is a constant companion to the residents and employees. (illustration credit 29.2)

  DOGS AND THE ELDERLY Beyond being a best friend, dogs can make great companions for the elderly for many reasons. Dogs help establish a routine and provide an easy way to stay active as one ages. It’s also been proved that pet owners live a less stressful life!

  Casey, a Shetland sheepdog, was rescued from the side of the road. (illustration credit 30.1)

  Casey

  FINDING THE WAY HOME SHETLAND SHEEPDOG OKLAHOMA

  It took two days for Kristin Kelly to persuade the starving, terrified sheltie to leave the side of the road where he had been abandoned. With a boot-mark-shaped bruise on his belly, and with matted fur, the dog was in terrible shape, but despite the freezing cold and his obvious need for nourishment, he at first refused to be won over by treats.

  After two days, Kelly was able to coax Casey, as the sheltie became known, into their home, where he charmed not only Kristin’s husband but her mother-in-law, Oleta, who begged that Casey be allowed to live with her. For more than four years, the two cohabited with joy. Oleta would share half of her Meals on Wheels food with Casey, and Casey shared all his love in return. But after a debilitating stroke, Oleta had to move to a nursing home 11 miles away. Casey went back to live with the Kellys but frequently visited Oleta.

  Then the Kellys went away for a week, leaving Casey in the care of a man who worked on their farm. One day, “he called and said, ‘Your mother’s dog has disappeared,’ ” Kelly remembers. The region happened to be suffering a historic drought, with temperatures reaching 115 degrees every day, and Casey was missing for five weeks. “We thought he was dead.”

  SHETLAND SHEEPDOG

  ORIGIN: Shetland Islands, Scotland

  COLOR(S): Black, blue merle, and sable; marked with varying amounts of white and/or tan

  HEIGHT: Between 13 and 16 inches

  TEMPERAMENT: Intensely loyal, affectionate, and responsive to his owner

  And then, all of a sudden, he appeared—at the nursing home. Casey had lost half his body weight, but there he was, having sought out his owner through the worst conditions. A nurse’s aide later said that she had seen the dog at the back door of the home for a couple of days, but hadn’t realized it was the once healthy Casey.

  “A dog’s ability to recognize where it is through scent is extraordinary,” says canine expert and trainer Philip Levine. “It is not beyond the intellectual capacity of a dog to take inventory of what’s around him. It’s the equivalent of you or me driving somewhere and looking here and there, but a dog is doing it with odors. Take a dog out of a familiar place within a 100-mile radius, and it’s very, very easy for a dog to find his way home.”

  So what about pets who, unlike Casey, aren’t able to find their way back to their families? Assuming someone like an animal control officer hasn’t interrupted their journey, says Levine, the cause is generally stress: “A dog’s emotional, frenetic state influences their decision making the same way it influences ours,” he explains. “Most dogs in emotional upset will pant, which oxygenates the brain. The dog is hyperventilating, so like a person, it can get loopy. A calmer dog will be able to find its way home easier than a dog in an agitated state.”

  The only panting Casey is doing these days is while he chases the UPS driver. Oleta has since passed away, but before she died she said, “I’ve had a good life.” And a very good dog.

  HAVEN’T I HEARD THIS STORY BEFORE? This might sound familiar to those who’ve read The Incredible Journey. Sheila Burnford’s book chronicles the journey of three pets who try to find their way home to their owners, who they mistakenly think have abandoned them.

  Wang Cai

  PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE POMERANIAN CHINA

  Waiting in line at the bank ranks up there with life’s more tedious tasks. But imagine waiting outside the bank … for eight hours. That’s what Wang Cai, a Pomeranian mix in Chongqing, China, has done every day for four years, spending his days watching the world go by while his owner works nearby.

  When footage of Wang Cai’s typical day hit the Internet, it went viral, logging more than 1.3 million views in 24 hours on China’s video-hosting service Youku.com. Dressed in a snazzy red and black coat, the petite Wang
Cai greets passersby with charm—other dogs get chased away—but rarely leaves his sentry post on the steps of the Minsheng bank.

  Wang Cai was found wandering the streets; his loyalty to his adopter and savior has drawn comparisons to Hachiko, an Akita in Japan who became famous for his devotion to his owner, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Every day, the dog greeted his owner at the Shibuya train station at the end of the day. When the owner died suddenly, the dog continued his daily trips to the station, appearing precisely as the scheduled train arrived, for the next nine years of his life. The story of the Akita made such an impression on the country that the dog’s remains are stuffed and mounted at the National Science Museum of Japan in Tokyo, and every year on April 8 there is a solemn ceremony in his honor held at the Shibuya train station.

  Wang Cai loyally waits outside the bank where his owner works. (illustration credit 31.1)

  POMERANIAN

  ORIGIN: From Pomerania (now Germany and Poland), the dog was developed from the ancient Spitz

  COLOR(S): All colors

  HEIGHT: 7 to 12 inches

  TEMPERAMENT: Friendly, intelligent, active; companion or competitive show dog

  Wang Cai’s owner has said that she neither asked nor trained the dog to wait for her. Canine expert and trainer Philip Levine isn’t surprised Wang Cai does so anyway—and says it isn’t necessarily just about love. “Dogs are creatures of survival, and identify a person who is benevolent, who provides food, shelter, and identification,” he explains. “They are also creatures of contextualized awareness, and if something works for them, they will repeat it. And this dog has a good thing going.” Not to mention an ever growing fan club.

  Hachiko was another famously loyal dog. (illustration credit 31.2)

  LIKE CLOCKWORK It’s a familiar scene to a dog owner: Your dog is waiting at the door when you arrive home from work. How do they know? Dogs have an incredible ability to pick up on small environmental clues and sounds we humans don’t notice. Although there is a lack of hard-hitting science, it is believed that dogs may even recognize the sound of your car’s engine or the bus that you take home from work, alerting them to your impending arrival.

  Hattie and Jennifer Warsing Hampton share an embrace. (illustration credit 32.1)

  Hattie

  THE POWER OF HEARING LABRADOR RETRIEVER PENNSYLVANIA

  Hattie does all the things a dog for the deaf is supposed to: She alerts her owner, Jennifer Warsing Hampton, when the doorbell rings; she leads her to the phone when someone is calling; she nudges her when the oven timer goes off. But the chocolate Lab has also warned Hampton of an imminent earthquake, led her to crying children in the playground, and nosed her owner before pointing skyward so she might see migrating geese.

  “She ‘alerts’ to everything,” says Hattie’s trainer, Carrie Brooks of Dogs for the Deaf. “There are dogs who just do extraordinary things that you could not imagine.”

  Before Hattie, Hampton says she lived “the life of a hermit.” Dependent upon a flashing device that let her know someone had arrived at the house, Hampton didn’t order deliveries, since waiting for them entailed standing at the door endlessly until they arrived. She loved cooking but burned endless meals because she couldn’t hear the timer going off. More stressful were the dangers of living alone as a deaf woman: “I had sleepless nights where I didn’t feel safe in my own home. What if there was a power outage and my smoke detector failed to alert me?” Hampton says. “During the day, I felt like I was walking on eggshells. I hated being at home, but I stayed inside because what was the point in going beyond my front door when I had no idea what was going on around me?”

  ALL ABOUT HEARING DOGS

  Hearing dogs are trained to alert to household sounds that ensure everyday safety and self-sufficiency for their owner.

  There is not one specific breed best suited to be a hearing dog. Most hearing dogs are mixed breeds, and dogs suited to the work tend to have a high energy level.

  But life with Hattie is filled with endless possibilities. “After Hattie’s arrival I cooked an entire Thanksgiving meal for my family, and I have done every year since,” says Hampton. “Hattie is my ears who can alert me to the kitchen timer going off while I am doing other things. I have been able to bake dozens of Christmas cookies to give out as gifts, something I wouldn’t have even attempted before Hattie.”

  Hattie also instinctively anticipates any possible harm. One day, Hattie kept poking Hampton while she was at the computer. Unable to figure out what she was alerting her to, Hampton continued to work. Suddenly, Hattie pushed her body against Hampton’s chair and pinned her against the desk so she was unable to get up. “As soon as she did that, I felt a strange rolling sensation as if the ground were making waves under me,” Hampton remembers. “When I returned to the computer I discovered that we had just experienced aftershocks in Pennsylvania from the earthquake that hit Virginia [in 2011].”

  Thanks to Hattie’s companionship, Hampton has been spending less time at the desk where she drafted “Hattie’s Law,” a bill that protects the rights of service dogs from attacks by other dogs in Pennsylvania. Advocating for the passage of this law was important to Hampton because Hattie had previously been attacked by another dog. “Before Hattie, rather than coming right out and saying, ‘I’m deaf,’ … if I didn’t hear something someone said, I would just nod in agreement, with no clue to what I was agreeing to,” remembers Hampton. “With Hattie in my life, I no longer hide behind my deafness.” The one caveat for people in her life? “You know that phrase ‘Love me, love my dog?’ That’s true for me and then some,” says Hampton. “She’s actually helped me discover who the true friends are in my life.”

  Hattie in Portstown Park in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (illustration credit 32.2)

  Not to mention helped Hampton identify her true love—second to Hattie, of course. “The day my husband, Chris, proposed, he asked Hattie’s permission first. He leaned down and whispered into Hattie’s ear. I saw Hattie’s tail wag and the next thing I know Hattie lets out this belting Awrrrrooooo!!!!!, Hampton remembers. “Chris turned around to me with a smile across his face and said, ‘Hattie said yes!’ And then he asked me to marry him. We are all a match made in heaven.”

  HATTIE’S LAW Hattie serves as the icon and namesake of legislation passed in Pennsylvania that protects service/assistance animals and their users against aggressive attacks from other dogs. This is the first law of its kind passed in the United States.

  Lilly visits the Littleton Animal Hospital in June 2012. (illustration credit 33.1)

  Lilly

  PROTECTOR FROM PERIL PIT BULL MASSACHUSETTS

  Lilly didn’t just take a hit for her owner; she took on an oncoming train. Rescued from a Boston shelter by David Lanteigne, a police officer, Lilly, a pit bull, seemed to have all the qualities he thought would make the perfect companion for his mother, who struggles with depression and alcoholism. “Lilly seemed shy and nervous and tired all rolled into one,” Lanteigne remembers, “and then she pushed herself up against the bars to be pet. I took her for a walk and she got so excited and her tail started wagging. And she had the most beautiful eyes. She was magical.”

  Lanteigne asked his mother to come meet her. The three of them went for a walk, at the end of which, Lanteigne remembers, “I opened the trunk of my car, where I had treats for my own dog, in order to give her one, and Lilly jumped in the trunk like, ‘Get me out of here.’ I’ve never seen anything like it. She wanted to come home.” And so she did.

  For more than three years, Lilly was the center of Lanteigne’s mother’s universe. “She improved the quality of her life so much,” he says. “She gave her a reason to get up in the morning. Lilly is the nicest, sweetest, funniest dog, with this giant, wonderful smile. There’s no one who doesn’t love Lilly.”

  PART OF THE PACK

  As relatives to wolves and distant relatives to other pack animals, dogs continue to be a pack-oriented species.

&n
bsp; When dogs feel a part of the pack, they can be protective of the pack or owner, which is why they make great guard and service dogs.

  If you want your dog to be part of the family pack, keep your dog in the house rather than outside. This will strengthen the bond between you and your dog.

  Lanteigne says that having Lilly helped his mother continue her sobriety. But then, one night, she met a friend after hearing some upsetting news, and one drink turned to many. As she was walking home with Lilly by her side, she stumbled across the train tracks and slipped, unable to get up. A train was bearing down.

  “The conductor said he could see a mass, and as he got closer he could see that this mass was a woman and a dog,” says Lanteigne. “And then he saw the dog trying to pull the woman off the tracks. He went to tell someone to stop the train, and then he went back to the window and saw that the dog had circled up to the woman’s head to stand between the train and the person. He told me, ‘That dog intentionally took the hit for your mom.’ ”

  When the conductor ran onto the tracks, “He saw my mother on the ground and the dog was lying next to her, unable to move.” But as help arrived, Lilly, despite her injuries, continued to crawl across the ground to put herself between her owner and the first responders. “The conductor said there wasn’t one sign of aggression, but she just kept repositioning herself to make sure my mom was OK.”