Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Obnoxious visit





































I really don't have much to say about today's visit to the hospital, other than people are uneducated and arrogant. Let see, where do I begin. I got four offers from backyard breeders about Boxer puppies they have, NO thanks! A nurse gave me a hard time because Samson is fixed, really?? A guy was going around telling people in his department that Samson was a pitbull and he was mean before he even talked to us. I explained to him he is a Boxer puppy and we do not allow aggressive dogs into this program. I also told him pitbulls are excellent dogs, when they are in the right hands. Then he goes onto say that he saw Boxers on the news awhile back for killing their owner. For one thing, those were Mastiffs, not Boxers(not even going to get into that story). Then we went to visit a patient and her husband. Her husband told us he bought his dog a service dog vest just so he could take him places and to hotels and not have to pay the fee for animals. I cannot stand when people do that, to me it shows a lack of respect for people who actually need a service animal. Ok, so that's my vent for the day!

Samson actually had a off day today. He was dragging me though the hospital, not wanting to visit with people and whining! This facility is a little hard for us because Samson is a food hound and we visit around lunch time, so lunch trays are still out and he would rather pay attention to the herb chicken and jello than the patient. But, everyone gets a off day right?

I did get to visit with a very nice elderly man who had two Boxers(not a BYB, that I know of). He was so excited to see Samson and said what a beautiful coat he has. He spoke very little English, so it was a little hard to understand him. But, Samson did his job and bought a huge smile to his face. There was also a little boy who was mentally challenged and paralyzed, his mom took a picture of Samson standing next to him. It was really sweet.

We also picked up another facility to visit, the abused women and children shelter. We start that one next week! Another great high energy place for him to visit.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Crowd pleaser
































































































Yesterday was our visit to the mentally challenged campus, defiantly our favorite place to "work" at! There was quite a few people this visit, I would say he visited almost 25 people. He gave each and everyone of them buttwiggles and kisses. One of the rules is no licking faces, so he is slowly learning to lick hands instead. But, all the patients try to sneak in face licks from time to time, can you blame them?! I brought pictures for everybody, which they were very thrilled about. I have to brag about how nicely he walks when the patients walk him around, its like he knows some of them have a hard time walking around, so he walks very patient and slow.

When our time was up and the patients were being called to dinner the women kept asking me they could keep him! I had to explain to them he is a very precious boy, but Boxers are a lot of work! They need daily walks, play time and socialization. The staff members are just amazed that these are ours own personal dogs and how much time we devote to training and socializing, they are especially grateful we bring them to visit. They said the patients really look forward to our visits, too bad we couldn't visit more often!

Samson was extremely exhausted after our visit :)

(Photos are being blocked to protect patients identity.)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A little late on this one


Last Wednesday(5/5/2010) Samson and I went to do Therapy work at the hospital. We got to do that visit with a very sweet 12yr old Golden. She is getting ready to retire from the hospital this summer, its getting to be too much walking for her. Our visit was short because there wasn't very many people admitted(which was a good thing, according to the nurses). Pediatrics is seems to be Samsons favorite stop. We got to visit with three children who were very sick and crying in bed. It's so sweet when they instantly stop when the dogs come in and their faces just light up with joy. One little girl gave the dogs a hug goodbye and thanked them for coming to see her.

Our next stop was the ICU(intensive care unit). There was a elderly man who had been at the hospital for quite sometime and he was very sad he had to leave his dogs at home. He was just fascinated with Samson coat color and how mellow he was. We visited with him for awhile and listened to him talk about his dogs and how he can't wait to get home to them. I hope he gets home to them soon, I could not imagine leaving Samson for that long!

Tomorrow we visit the mental health campus! Defiantly my favorite place for Samson because its a high energy environment. I promised the patients I would print pictures for them, better get on that before I forget!