Pet therapy?

[mmglobal]

This is really a caregivee issue instead of a caregiver issue, but this seems like the best place to discuss this anyway.

One of the things that Diane discussed in her presentation was the importance of us getting Taffy, a golden lab puppy. My daughter did a 4-h project, raising a service puppy. We got taffy about 9 months before my surgery... so it was the worst of times... I was pretty severely disabled and depressed. There is NO QUESTION that my life improved dramatically when we got Taffy. I now had something I had to take care of and something that made me laugh and smile frequently. Lauren was in middle school, and really rose to the occasion, taking care of our little pissing machine through the difficult puppy stages.

It was great that, as a service puppy, she came with an instruction manual to help insure that we raised a properly trained, well behaved dog. (I wish our children came with such a manual.)

In any case, having Taffy really improved my life. I was heartbroken that we had to give her up, but it was for a great cause. I has happy that we'd be in Germany for my surgery when she had to go back... I was afraid of how emotional I'd be giving her away. Fortunatlely, about a month after we got back, I got the call... Taffy washed out of the program so we could have her back.

I think it was because she was too young... only 10 months old when she went for advanced training. She had been the alpha dog in her litter and was now one of many alpha docs that had to sort themselves out in the big advanced training group. She is no longer in charge of anything and at the dog beach, the wimpiest dogs will have her bearing her jugular. Our kittens have always dominated her.

Diane thinks that Taffy washed out of the program because she already had a job... she was MY service dog. I think she may be right. Taffy is over 7 now and is an integral part of our family. However... she's been upstaged by Zoey. Better than pet therapy is grandchild therapy.

Taffy was great for the whole family... but in no small part because she put a smile on my face and that was all too rare during those times.

Comments?

All the best,

Mark

[twisted]

Well I have 2 small dogs...a miniature fox terrier who turns 13 in a few weeks and a 7 y/o dachshound cross pound puppy.
I spend a lot of time at home by myself while hubby's at work and these guys are literally my surrogate children. In fact I prefer them to my grown kids lol
When I had my first spinal surgery my foxy sat at the front door for nearly 2 days just waiting. Now that's loyalty!

[dshobbies]

Dogs give unconditional love and we all need love. They also need caring and give those who have no other reason to get out of bed in the morning, a good reason.

I've read many an article describing how dogs were used in hospitals, boosting healing rates in both the young and the old.

We've thought about raising a service dog but we just can't bear the thought of having to part with a dog. My hat is off to those who can. It must be as difficult as it is rewarding.

[Maria]

3 cats carried me thru many lonely moments of pain. Spouse working, friends busy, family far away, no longer working... and then came Lola the minature schnauzer that actually gave me a reason to walk and be off that couch or bed more and more.

Thanks to Lola (now nearly 6 years old) I became a much healthier spiney mentally and physically!

[johnb]

My cat and my sister's dog have helped me through the dynesys failure. My nephew acts like a little animal sometimes and he has helped to.

[Kathy]

In addition to my two real children, Emma 5 1/2 and Ava 3, I have pet children too. We have 1 dog, 3 cats, 1 leopard tortoise, 3 saltwater fish, and 1 beta fish (had two but the youngest cat ate one).

So here is a little about my other children.... I have a 6 year old all white male boxer, Jack. Since you don't see the white one's often, he makes me be social when I don't feel like it, people asking about him, talking to him and enjoying his love. He is my 90 Lb. baby, he really thinks he is a cat, and my cat thinks he's a dog!

I also have my step-son black and white cat, Barney, who my husband had before I met him. This cat is the fattest cat you have probably ever seen AND he is 17 years old (amazingly, he is very healthy). All the time people ask me when her kittens are due and I tell them, he is fixed. We joke that he needs gastric bypass surgery and a body lift! He loves to lay on my feet, which drives me insane; but he is very sweet.

The next cat is a brown tabby, Oliver, we rescued from the pound and he is 1 year old. He is fun and always busy, watching the fish in our saltwater tank, trying to figure out how the heck he is going to eat them. Lets the kids play with him; but will scratch them when they cross the line (all my cats have claws to not only defend themselves from other animals; but from my kids!)

Last, is a black with small white markings female kitten, Kaylee. She adopted us, we found her in our garage (we live in the city in a subdivision, surrounded by city, so I have no idea where she came from). We found her running around in the garage, eating the cat food and she was about 5 weeks old. When we finally caught her (she obviously had a ferrell mother), her ribs poked out and she was covered in dirt and fleas. Got her to our vet, she had worms too, so it was a good thing we found her, or she would have probably have died from the fleas and worms. We guess our older kitten either carried her home or she followed him inside. Something like this: Our Cat:"hey, you look hungry, we have lots of food where I stay" Other Kitten: "hmm, let me think about it" Our Cat:"We have cat toys, fish, people that rub you whenever you want and a big fat cat we can chase" Other Kitten: "That sounds fun, think I will come check it out" My husband is a big softie and once the kids and I had claimed her, he had no choice but to let us keep her. She is almost a year old now and extremely playful. Always chasing and batting at something on the floor. She still is a bit skittish; but will come sit on me and let me pet her for hours (her fur is so soft, softer than my other cats). She has claimed me and really doesn't go to anyone else, which is fine with me.

For extra entertainment, we have a laser pen light that the animals go nuts chasing it around. The cats are the boss of the dog and he takes it. They will play for hours, he will get the cat in his mouth and 'play' with them and for some reason, they like it. Animals are so much fun, entertainment, enjoyment and unconditional love. I don't know where I would be without them. As much as I hate dog slobber, sometimes a big ole kiss from him is the best.