My Two Pitties: NORMAN'S 2ND THERAPY VISIT: JUST DON'T ASK US TO DO TRICKS

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

NORMAN'S 2ND THERAPY VISIT: JUST DON'T ASK US TO DO TRICKS

Norman's second therapy visit was just as awesome as his first visit. We returned to the same location (the mental health department of a local hospital) but there were mostly new patients. Like last time, the teenagers were very excited to see the dogs and had fun sitting on the floor with them. Both Norman and the other Therapy Dog spent most of the time lying on the floor, receiving lots of rubs and pets. Norman also dishes out kisses to those who want them, while the other dog keeps his tongue to himself.

I don't have any photos of the actual day so I'm going to post some old ones that are somewhat relative:)

When we were visiting with the adults, they asked to see the dogs do tricks. The other volunteer and I laughed because each of our dogs only has one "real" trick. Norman's trick is a wave...sort of. I use the command "hi" and hold up my hand to wave at him while he lifts his front paw. But Norman had everyone in stitches because every time I gave him the command, he'd flop on the floor belly up. This is an old move of his since puppy-hood to get out of training. And yes, it is so cute...it works every time. So each time I had to physically pick him up to reposition him on his feet and try again. Each "failure" made everyone laugh even harder and was more entertaining than actually getting him to do it. Finally, I led him to a different spot and pretended to have a treat to get him to "succeed"... sort of. Everyone clapped for him and then the other dog did his trick, a bow. Everyone loved that too and I joked that they had one-upped us.

This time we ended the hour by going into individual hospital rooms to visit people who couldn't get out of bed to join us in the main room. One lady asked if Norman could get on her bed and of course I said okay. I had to actually pick him up and put him on the bed because he won't, even if prompted, get on furniture away from home. He squeezed in next to her on the narrow bed and without any instructing, he lied down next to her, delivered a couple slow-motion kisses to her face and laid his head on her chest. It was a great moment for all of us. I think the two of them would have liked to stay like that for hours!

As we were leaving, one of the staff members came over to me and said she was so glad I brought Norman in. She said she had been bitten a long time ago by a Pit Bull and had been afraid of them ever since. She told me Norman made her realize they could be really sweet and loving and that she would remember that from now on when she sees them!