By Tom
Today Shari and I took Klaus to the VA hospital for Pet Therapy. We have been doing this with him for about 6 months now. Normally we go from room to room on the hospice floor of the hospital and ask each patient if they want to pet the dog. Today was a perfect weather day, sun was shining and the temperature was about 70 degrees so we started on the outdoor area of the 2nd floor. The first vet we ran in to was sitting in a non motorized wheelchair and told us he was depressed. He then gave the dog a few pats on the head. We then moved on to the rest of the patients out on the deck giving everyone who wanted to, a chance petting Klaus.
Then on the way back in to the building to visit patient rooms we ran in to the first patient who mentioned he was depressed. Just for laughs I gave him the leash to hold as Klaus guided him down the hallway scooting himself with his feet in his wheelchair. Klaus slowly paced himself in front as if he knew soeone impaired was walking him. The two of them navigated down the long hallway just past a nurses station where Klaus approached another man in a wheelchair who instinctively started petting the dog.
Their was a bunch of commotion from the nurses station and they explained to me that the man petting the dog is terminally ill and cognitively impaired and normally can not do things like that. They said he is not capable of answering questions or communicating simple things. So if we had approached him and asked if he wanted to pet the dog he would not have been capable of answering us.
After giving him a good long turn with Klaus we moved on to each room of the floor. Every time we passed the so called "cognitively impaired" guy in the hallway we gave him a another turn petting Klaus. I think he got to pet him 4 times total.
It was a rewarding pet therapy day for all. At a different nurses station we let the staff give Klaus several dog treats. Then this evening when we where home with all 3 dogs, Shari offered each dog a small milk bone and Klaus didn't want his. I think he had gotten a few too many treats today. We can't call him spoiled because he did earn them.