Pups make friends, give comfort....

[cougarnurse]

Heartwarming: Puppies make friends, give comfort at nursing home - Chambersburg Public Opinion


Three "good ol' pups" were recently added to The Village of Laurel Run family of Fayetteville.

The residents of the local nursing home were first surprised with two Shih Tzu puppies on Aug. 13 and a third on Sept. 5.

The residents were given the honor of naming the puppies and after a vote was taken, the puppies were named Bo, Duke and Jesse after "The Dukes of Hazzard."

"They are really cute and we got to name them, which was a thrill," resident Polly Henry said.

Bo, a white-and-gray mixed Shih Tzu and Maltese, was born June 11; Duke, a brown purebred, was born June 12; and Jesse, a black Shih Tzu and poodle mix, was born July 2.

Money from the activity budget was used to buy the puppies at Lynch's Little Puppies in Fairfield. The puppies will serve as pets and provide pet therapy to the residents, staff and visitors.

Other than some fish, Bo, Duke and Jesse are the only pets at the home.
"They (the residents) loved them from the moment we brought them in the door," activity director Stephanie Eberly said.

Eberly described Duke as the laid-back one, Bo as the playful one and Jesse as the friendly one.

Bo was cuddling up to resident Mary Boyce. She said getting the puppies was a wonderful idea.
"I was there when Stephanie brought the brown one in and then the white one," she said. "It has just brought a spurt of fun in the halls. Everyone is in love with them," she added.

Rehabilitation Center, the Laurel Assisted Living unit and the Laurel Memory Care unit were each given its own dog. On Wednesdays, all of the dogs are used for pet therapy.


A staff person from each unit is in charge of taking care of their unit's dog, but the residents do pitch in when able. Tammy Swisher, Connie Faust and Stephanie Eberly are each currently taking a dog home for the weekend until they become fully housetrained.

According to a newsletter from The Village of Laurel Run, visiting with animals can help people feel less lonely and depressed and stroking a dog can reduce a person's blood pressure. It also states that petting encourages the use of hands and arms.

Admissions and marketing director Connie Faust said the dogs were used for pet therapy since the first day they arrived. "It has been very successful so far. Everyone has benefited from the dogs," she said.

Resident Carolyn Clark said they are the most adorable dogs that she has ever seen and that it is a joy to have them.

"The puppies love the attention," Faust said. "They are very energetic, but when a resident picks them up, they become a lap dog."
The residents and staff hosted a bake sale Sept. 12 to help fund the purchase of a dog stroller. Eberly said the bake sale was successful and that they are in the process of buying one dog stroller, but hope to buy two more.