Hospice patients, their families and volunteers in the Shawano area are celebrating one year of pet therapy with an August training program for new volunteer pets and their handlers.
“Dogs who make excellent therapy dogs have a special look in their eyes,” said Molly Johnson, of Canine Comfort, LLC, in Neenah, a certified dog trainer with special expertise in therapy dogs. “It’s not all about training. It’s more about temperament.
“These dogs would choose people over anything else. They enjoy attention without being pushy.”
Johnson leads ThedaCare’s hospice training program for people and their dogs.
Bonduel Police Chief Todd Chaney and his wife, Sue, are trained handlers for their golden retriever rescue dog named Bear, who was certified as a pet therapy dog last year. As hospice volunteers, the Chaneys visit nursing homes, family homes and hospitals with Bear.
“We visit hospice patients about twice a week for about 30 minutes, but then we always walk around the facility,” Todd Chaney said. “All of the residents have come to enjoy Bear’s visits. It’s a great way to be of service to our community.”
Dogs such as Bear are trained to greet all people with “four paws on the ground,” Johnson said.
When given the command to “cuddle,” they rest their heads on a person’s lap.
“The dog does most of the work,” Johnson said. “The handlers, the humans, use the dog as a springboard for starting a conversation with the patient or his or her family. Our goal is to reinvigorate people with our visit, to focus on something positive, other than the heavy issues at hand.”
Nurse Kathy Micoley, team leader for ThedaCare At Home hospice services in the Shawano area, has seen pets re-energize Alzheimer’s patients.
“I have patients who don’t remember my name but ask for Bear, the dog, every time I visit,” she said. “The pet visits make a big impression, and patients who had dogs as children will tell us about them.”
The pet therapy program has also increased interest in the ThedaCare At Home Hospice program in the region.
According to Angie Krueger, ThedaCare At Home Hospice volunteer coordinator, the Seymour and Black Creek areas have their first-ever team of hospice volunteers in training.
“Hospice volunteers provide support, respite and grieving help to patients and their families,” she said. “We believe hospice is about living, not dying. We help people live their best lives up until the very end. And the pet visits are some of the best moments.”
The August training program, Canine Comfort University, requires a three-day commitment. All training expenses are covered by Friends of Hospice.
Friends of Hospice, a nonprofit fundraising group in Shawano dedicated to the support and enhancement of hospice services in the region, provides $5,000 per year for pet therapy and massage therapy for hospice patients.
The group is also funding the creation of the hospice suite at ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano, which is under construction at County Road B and state Highway 22, Shawano.
For registration or information about the hospice dog training program, contact Johnson at mjohnson@caninecomfort.us.
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