Anita Mercede spent many weeks as a patient at Stamford Hospital last fall. What she remembers most poignantly about that time were the visits she received from some furry friends.
Anita is talking about the hospital’s Healing Hounds program, now in its twelfth year. Her favorite doggy visitor was a gorgeous Bernese Mountain dog. “When he looked at me with those big brown eyes, my day immediately brightened.”
That dog is Otis, owned by Dana Neuman, who founded Healing Hounds with her then-Bernese, Oso. Today Dana oversees the twenty-four dogs in the program, all therapy certified by an independent certification program. In addition to hospital visits, Healing Hounds works in area schools and nursing homes. Dogs visit with their handlers, and are allowed in most departments in the hospital as long as the staff approves and the patient wants a visit.
“The dogs are so beneficial to the patients,” says Janice Shaskan, manager of Volunteer Services at Stamford Hospital. “The days are long for patients, and these sweet dogs provide a distraction that takes their minds off their problems and makes the day shorter.”
Dana says that each handler has numerous stories about their hospital visits. One of her favorites concerns a young man on the psychiatric floor, who had refused to speak since he was admitted seventy-two hours prior to her arriving with Oso. As soon as the young man spotted her dog, he joined Oso on the floor and began talking about his childhood and his problems. “He really opened up,” she says. “The staff was incredulous and so grateful.”
One doctor told Dana that when he spots a dog in the hospital, he imagines a rainbow walking down the hallways. “The doctors and nurses spend their lives working with patients who are sick,” she explains. “The doctor told me that the dogs turn the hospital into a happy place. Simply by wagging their tails [the dogs] bring smiles to everyone’s faces—staff, patients and visitors. The dogs relax patients and help heal their spirits.” Anita adds: “The dogs gave me someone to touch, and that was so important.”