Sep. 28--LIMA -- Nothing and no one could calm down one particularly agitated and unhappy patient at Lima Memorial Health System.
But then walked in Mandy, a 67-pound, strawberryblonde Golden Shepherd.
"By the time we left, the woman was laughing and in a much better mood," said Ray Ward, Mandy's owner and trainer.
Ward and Mandy, 9, have been visiting patients at Lima Memorial and its cancer and wellness center for five years.
"I go in, and they pet her, kiss her, whatever. Whatever makes you feel good," he said.
Nine pet trainers attended a session Saturday at the hospital with Delta Society Pet Partners instructor Ken Mc-Court. The session was to train people already working with therapy dogs how to be licensed instructors.
McCourt brought with him 150-pound Kilo, an English mastiff, and Dora, a beagle. A mixed breed, Thing Thing, hung around as an example of a dog that's not as outgoing and may not be the best therapy dog.
"I've seen every kind of dog, every breed, do this on a regular basis, even dogs that are considered by some communities as being dangerous," Mc-Court said. "It's more the temperament of the animal. They have to be social, outgoing, friendly and trusting."
McCourt, who has been working with therapy animals since 1993, saw firsthand through a relative in a nursing facility the positive impact a visit from a fury friend can have.
"We used to take our animals into the nursing home to visit her, and she always enjoyed it and so did the other people there," he said. "We realized there was some kind of a benefit beyond just being petted."
He's found that the animals can distract people from their pain and get people to do things in therapy that they wouldn't do otherwise. The dogs are especially helpful with children, he said.
Ward decided to get a therapy dog after retiring. A volunteer at the Allen County Humane Society, he had spent time with the 10-week-old Mandy. He started training her immediately, concentrating on teaching her to be gentle.
The two also work with people doing physical therapy, specifically helping with motor skills. Ward explained that someone would much rather touch a dog than anything else.
"It seems to get them to start moving their fingers more," he said.
Therapy dogs have been around dating back to the early 1920s, McCourt said, but the medical profession just recently began seeing how helpful they can be.
"It's just another tool they can use to make people better," he said. "Rather than a pill or a scalpel, they can use a dog."
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