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Pet Therapy
January 14, 2008 |
Daisy and Jazz are both furry, with four legs and a tail. The two caring canines
also happen to be some of Southwest Florida’s most loved medical professionals.
Owner and speech pathologist Stacey Brill says Daisy is the more outgoing pup while
Jazz tends to be a bit mellower. Since the two bulldogs first pawed their way into
Gulf Coast Hospital they’ve been a big hit with both patients and staff members.
Mike Rollo is a patient who spent some quality time with the pups. “They were always
good company. They’re so unique,” he says. Don Collins says that the pooches were
always welcoming when he would come into the hospital for treatment. “It kind of warmed up the office. You could talk to them and play with them it was a lot of
fun.” Daisy and Jazz have been helping patients at Gulf Coast Hospital for three
years now. Stacey says using the pups for pet therapy has been a great experience
for her as well. “We’ve been able to bring them into the hospital to visit patients
as well as the staff and utilize them throughout therapy. We’ve actually had patients
that are unresponsive and then you take the dog in and put them in bed with them
and they’ve actually become responsive, it’s really neat.” And you can bet the furry
friends often get rewarded for their hard work. “Of course they knew I was going to sneak them a little something once Stacey left the room so they would look at
me attentively the whole time,” says Don. While Stacey knows about her pet’s pension
for treats she agrees that they are deserving of some rewards now and then. “Every
department has milk bones or treats for them so they’ve figured out where the treats
are and they know exactly where to go,” she says. Jazz and Daisy have even helped
patients learn to walk again after surgery. Pet therapy in general has been proven to have a calming effect on pediatric patients and lower blood pressure in adults. |
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