Laurel Hunt Books

Baker dressed for "Go Red" day

As part of February heart month, our hospital participates in the national “Go Red For Women” day to raise awareness of heart disease, one of the major causes of death in women. A booth in the lobby offered free blood pressure screenings and information on preventing heart disease. The therapy dogs were invited to participate and draw visitors to the booth. I think Baker was a bigger attraction than the chocolate candy (did you know dark chocolate is good for your heart?). Petting a dog is also known to reduce blood pressure and stress. But what I noticed most is that at the sight of a friendly dog, everyone smiled.

Greeting hospital staff

They may have entered the hospital lobby with a worried or somber look, but that vanished when they spotted Baker and Heidi, another adorable daschund therapy dog. Please visit Go Red For Women to view a short, entertaining video on the symptoms of a heart attack. I think we can all relate to the young, multitasking mom in the video!

Hug your dog today. It’s good for your heart!

This post is part of the Saturday Pet Blog Hop, hosted by Two Little Cavaliers and Life With Dogs. Please visit these sites to connect with other pet bloggers!

Learning hand signals

Years ago, I had a dear friend who was hospitalized with terminal cancer. She loved dogs, and her final weeks were brightened by visits from a troupe of golden retriever therapy dogs. Louise’s face lit up with a smile as she described their visits, and often led to reminiscing about her childhood pal, a German Shepherd, whom she was confident she would see again on the other side.  Since then, it’s been a dream of mine to become a pet therapy volunteer. (more…)

Baker and I are training to become registered to do pet therapy at our local hospital.  As we have studied for the test, we have learned there is a lot more to pet therapy than meets the eye! I recently had the opportunity to “shadow” some pet therapy teams as they visited the Children’s Hospital. Of course, Baker is not allowed in the hospital until he has passed the test, which we hope to take soon. For me, this visit was a chance to measure my own emotions when visiting patients. “Our volunteers love visiting the kids, but it’s not all fun and games,” the pet therapy coordinator had warned. (more…)

Congratulations to Hickory, the graceful Scottish Deerhound, on winning Best in Show at Westminster! This was the favorite breed of the writer Sir Walter Scott, who wrote about his grief at the loss of his devoted dog, Maida.

“I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied that it is in compassion for the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time?”

I was in New York City this past weekend and caught a few of the dog show festivities. The hotels  surrounding Madison Square Garden are filled with gorgeous dogs, dog vendors, and dog paraphernalia. At night, the Empire State Building is lit in the Westminster colors of purple and gold.  I met several women who were attending Westminster as a “girls’ weekend,” which sounds like great fun. It’s sort of like being in Hollywood for the Oscars.

I attended a benefit party for Angel on a Leash, a pet therapy organization that involves many of the recent Best in Show winners in therapy dog work. Westminster announcer David Frei serves as president of this organization, and in his welcoming remarks he said, “Remember, the real Best in Show dog is the one who greets you at your door.” How true!

Abbey (on left), Sam, and Tracy

Congratulations to Abbey, who recently became registered as a therapy dog with Paws with a Purpose! Abbey and her brother Sam were adopted from English Springer Rescue. Here is their inspiring story from proud mom Tracy:

My last day with Maxwell was May 10, 2007. He was my first Springer rescue. A family with three children didn’t have time for him and placed an ad in the paper FREE to good home. We had 13 wonderful years together, and letting Maxwell go was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever faced in my life. It took me quit awhile to even think of getting another animal. I still had Gizmo and Ditch, two rescue cats so I didn’t feel completely alone. But I knew I couldn’t go long without another dog. (more…)

I’m back from presenting a workshop on starting and funding a pet therapy program at the American Holistic Nurses Association Conference in Colorado Springs. In future posts I will share some of the fund raising tools that have worked for us at Paws with a Purpose, but I wanted to say a special thanks to the two Delta Society pet partners who participated in our workshop. Both dogs had interesting stories. Lacey, a lovely golden retriever, was originally trained as a hearing assistance dog by a prison inmate, in a program where prisoners teach dogs basic obedience skills. Although Lacey did not become a service dog, she found her calling as a therapy dog and became registered with Delta. She works with American Humane Association’s Animal-Assisted Therapy and the American Red Cross K-9 Therapy programs, visiting a variety of military and health care facilities, and is especially gifted at working with disabled military veterans. The other pet partner, Ladybug, is a cute-as-a-bug Yorkie. Ladybug came from a puppy mill situation and had no idea how to act like a normal dog. She simply froze, if asked to do anything. She spent an entire obedience class standing in one spot, refusing to move or react in any way. Her new family worked hard to bring her out of her shell, and discovered that she loved children and also loved agility work. Through much patience and love, Ladybug learned to trust and love back, and became a registered therapy dog, also serving with the Red Cross K-9 Therapy program. At the conclusion of our workshop, both Lacey and Ladybug were the center of attention as attendees crowded around to meet them. It was heartwarming and inspiring to see these two dogs spreading smiles, comfort and love to a room full of strangers, and to think of the hearts that they heal every day.  (more…)

Paws on Parade

This past weekend Alex and I participated in the annual “Paws on Parade” walk-a-thon to raise funds for our local pet therapy organization, Paws with a Purpose. The event is held in a park that has a lovely trail winding through the trees, next to the river, and always attracts a good turnout of dogs and their humans. As we parked and got out of the car, I could see that Alex was not eager to join the assembled group, so instead of his usual flexi-leash, I put his slip lead on, as he’s been known to try to back out of his collar if spooked by something. I allowed him plenty of time to check out the scene and the other dogs, though he clearly did not want to be part of the party! As the walk got underway, we were joined by a group of children from a local agency that offers residential and other counseling services for children in the foster system. The pet therapy dogs serve this agency with visits to teach “life skills” such as respect, teamwork, and personal responsibility, and have been a very popular and effective addition to the curriculum.

A group of the kids from this agency began walking with one of the pet therapy volunteers. She had brought both of her dogs that day, two friendly and goofy goldendoodles, and as the parade made its way through the park, the children took turns holding the dogs’ leashes. Alex and I were walking just ahead of this group, and I was glad that he was finally relaxing and ignoring the dogs, joggers, bicyclists, and walkers we encountered along the path. Then a small boy, part of the group walking behind us, ran up along side me and asked eagerly, “Can I walk your dog?” (more…)

I am always looking for fun (and easy) fund-raising ideas for animal organizations. Actually, this idea could be used for any organization, not just animal-related. It’s from the Delta Society.

The class project – ‘help others’.

Each student in the 5th grade class was given the assignment – find a way to help others. The children were to work independently, not with other classmates, to come up with their own way to make a difference in other’s lives.

11-year old Alyssa decided she wanted to help bring more joy, compassion and comfort to others through the Delta Society Pet Partners program, and she decided to raise money to support this program. She contacted Delta for promotional materials for use during her fundraiser, including coloring sheets for kids, informational pamphlets for adults and a banner. At that time she wasn’t sure what her project would actually be – maybe a bake sale. But she came up with a very creative idea.

Alyssa wrote, “I wanted my fundraiser to be unique and fun and something that no one has ever done before. I knew a lot of people in my school had dogs so I decided to have a Cute Dog Contest. People seemed to like that idea because I got 18 entries!”

She mounted the dogs’ pictures on a board, and next to each dog there was a number. There were 18 cups with lids near the poster. If you wanted to vote for one of the dogs you would look at the number next to it and put a coin in the cup with that number. The amounts of the votes were the amounts of the coins, for example a quarter would be twenty five votes.

The contest went on for two weeks. The winner of the contest got a huge gift basket with toys and snacks, and the runner-ups received smaller gift baskets with two items. The fundraiser raised $424.29!

I love this story because it shows that small donations add up and make a difference. Congratulations, Alyssa!

My mother, who once upon a time was a nurse, always emphasized “wash your hands.” Like much of Mom’s advice over the years, it turned out to be right, as it’s now proven that washing your hands regularly can prevent transmission of lots of nasty viruses. I’m glad to see the prevalence of  hand wipe dispensers at grocery store entrances, and although I try to bring my own shopping basket (a nifty collapsible basket I got at Garnethill.com), I seldom pass up the hand wipe dispenser. Yesterday, I saw something that made me think twice about what may be on grocery store shopping carts. (more…)

One of the stars of our local pet therapy organization, Paws with a Purpose, is a joyful Airedale named Pubb, who walks the hospital halls spreading smiles, comfort, and love to everyone he meets. Pubb and his “mom” Marti often visit pediatric cancer patients, as well as children who are about to undergo a forensic interview in situations of suspected child abuse. No matter why the child is at the hospital, Pubb’s furry medicine gives them the courage to face the often scary future. Pubb is estimated to be nearly 13 years old, and he recently passed his re-certification test as a Delta Society therapy dog, which is required every two years. On that occasion, Marti wrote the following heartwarming letter  to the family who rescued Pubb. It’s a testament not only to Pubb, but to how a simple act of compassion continues to touch many lives.

April 18, 2010

Dear Bishop,

You may remember that in 2003 you picked up an Airedale in a lot of trouble on the side of the road and named him Pubb. He was on three legs, weighed 30-some lbs, had little hair, battle scars, plenty of heartworms and every other possible parasite. You and your family nursed him through the most critical phase of recovery and then Airedale Rescue transported him to his foster family.

Let me say up front that this isn’t one of those sad letters written upon the death of a dog—he is absolutely fine and still acts like a puppy. Getting a little stiffer in his advancing years, but still would rather hike with me than breathe. Wrestles and plays endlessly with the three other Airedales in the house, and was the first to befriend the now-seven month old puppy Punch. His signature is a bulldozer-like move through one’s legs and he has been known to pick small people (I being one of them) off their feet. And when people hear how old he is (we guess about 13 now—estimates of his age when you rescued him were 5 to 7), they are in absolute disbelief.

Anyway, this is by way of a love letter from Pubb, and it’s by way of letting you know the ripples of good things your good deed created. For my own part, I don’t think there has been a day since he arrived that Pubb (also called Bubbie—Pubb morphed into an affectionate Pubba-Bubba and thus he answers to Pubby, Pubb, Bubbie, Bupps, Bubb, Pubbster, Boobert and the rattle of a food bowl) has not made me laugh aloud, and the value of a dog that can do that is inestimable. (more…)

I work with our local therapy dog organization, Paws with a Purpose, who visit hospital and nursing home patients as well as many community agencies and schools. Recently, Paws fulfilled an unusual request, to visit inmates at the Craggy Correctional Center. The dogs were a huge hit with the inmates and staff, bringing a bit of normalcy as well as comfort and unconditional love. The following heartwarming note, signed by 150 inmates, was received after the visit. (more…)