Dogs Ease Pandemic Isolation

Eileen Nagle sees her family in video chats and drive-by visits, but that hasn’t made up for the lack of warm hugs in the nine months since the pandemic led her nursing home to shut its doors to visitors.

Enter Zeus. “Zeus is a friendly little snowball, very happy,” said Nagle, 79, after the peppy bichon frise paid a visit to her room at Hebrew Home at Riverdale, overlooking the Hudson River in the Bronx. “Petting and playing with the dogs breaks up the day and gets you to forget about yourself for a while.”

Hebrew Home has had a pet therapy program for 20 years; tiny Zeus and gentle giant Marley the Great Dane are the current snugglers in residence. Now, the activities department is expanding the canine corps with two new recruits in training to give residents more of the affectionate physical contact that has become so scarce and precious in the coronavirus era.

“It’s uplifting to have Zeus come and visit me, especially with COVID and being restricted to my room,” said 80-year-old Jeff Philipson, beaming as he ran his fingers through Zeus’ silky white fur while the dog clambered on his bed. “I talk on the phone every day with my daughter and my son, but that’s as good as it can get for now.”

When the pandemic lockdown began in March, dog therapy was suspended along with most other activities at the nursing home.

“I decided we needed to re-energize the pet visiting program since there’s no outside visitation allowed,” said Daniel Reingold, founder of the pet therapy program and president and CEO of RiverSpring Health, nonprofit operator of 103-year-old Hebrew Home. “They’ve been on the floors bringing happiness and unconditional love to residents and staff alike.”

The dogs belong to staff members who bring them to work every day. But the program doesn’t allow just any dog.

“It has to be a combination of the right owner, right dog and right temperament,” said Reingold, whose own rescue dog, Kida, is one of the new recruits. “The dogs have to be assessed, follow basic commands and be able to cope with wheelchairs, elevators, medication carts and all the other things they’ll encounter on a floor.”

Cats are also used in the pet therapy program — but only robotic ones. Hebrew Home has numerous lifelike animatronic cats that purr and meow as residents hold them in their laps and stroke their fur.

“The cats are especially soothing to people with dementia,” said Catherine Farrell, director of therapeutic activities, primary dog handler and owner of Marley.

“The love of an animal is incredible,” Farrell said. “It releases endorphins, reduces blood pressure, reduces anxiety. For people here who had animals in their life history, seeing dogs triggers memories and opens communication.”

While Farrell has to remain 6 feet away from residents and wear a face mask and plastic shield, Marley can plop his head on their beds as they pet him.

“To break through the social distancing barrier is really important,” Farrell said. “It’s one of the only ways they’re able to touch another living being and gain satisfaction from that physical connection.”

But it’s not just about petting a dog, said Olivia Cohen, dog handler and assistant director of the therapeutic activities program. For some residents, the interaction can break down barriers and open communication and emotional expression, she said.

Cohen recalls one woman who was struggling with anxiety and having trouble coping with the new environment when she moved into the home. “Nothing would get through to her to help her,” Cohen said. “But when I brought the dog to her, her complete affect changed from crying to having her face light up and telling stories about her own experiences.”

For resident Elizabeth Pagan, dog visits are a welcome respite from the isolation she has endured since she’s been restricted to FaceTime visits with her children, grandchildren and terrier-dachshund mix Ruby.

“It means a lot to me, makes me feel good when I pet the dogs,” said Pagan, who’s recovering from a stroke. “My favorite is Marley. He gives me a lot of comfort.

Pets Being Recognized

It has long been established that dogs are “man’s best friend,” but animals in general have been a part of human society since the dawn of humankind thousands of years ago. Domesticated animals helped our fledgling species in so many ways: cats reduced rodent populations allowing for safer food storage and disease prevention; dogs served as homestead guardians, hunting partners, and aides for herding livestock; falcons and other birds of prey provided a venue for hunting simply not capable by man in those nascent days.

As the centuries have passed, we have watched as those workhorse animals became more and more a luxury: people began to want pets less for their utilitarian value than to simply have them as household friends and compatriots. This is why the pet industry has emerged as strongly as it has over the past few decades.

Animals continue to serve us in many key functions, not the least of which falls under the two related—but markedly different—categories of companion animals and service animals. While these two might seem the same, the differences between those two categories cannot be understated, and a pet store owner would do well to not only know, but act upon those differences when engaging in their local market.

Service animals, as defined by the U.S. Department of Justice under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), are “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” Service animals undergo rigorous, continual training to perform their designated tasks. While a service animal might be agreeable and friendly, their sole function is to aid their owner in tasks that their disability might otherwise prevent. Some of these might include guide dogs for visually or auditory-impaired persons, alert/response dogs that alert an individual to an impending seizure or other autonomic response, or psychiatric service dogs, which provide assistance in ameliorating a cognitive or neurological disability in their handler, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Because of their rigorous training and their necessity to their owner’s way of life, service animals are permitted access to areas that they may not otherwise be permitted into. This access only can be denied under one of two conditions: if the animal might contaminate a workspace (such as a clean room in a laboratory or a surgical arena), or if the animal cannot be controlled.

Currently, under the ADA, only dogs and miniature horses are recognized as service animals; all other animals fall under the more nebulous category of companion animals, which range vastly in terms of services provided. In legal terms, companion animals are not recognized by the ADA–as well-behaved and congenial as an animal may be, they hold no additional legal standards and businesses have no obligation to provide assistance or entry for an animal that does not fall into the stricter ‘service animal’ standing.

This is not to say that companion animals are ineffective—far from it! They simply do not hold the legal standing and recognition as a service animal. While individual states might have laws granting some degree of standing to a “therapy animal” or a “companion animal,” these laws vary from state to state—be sure to find out how your state views these animals.

Unfortunately, because of the nebulous nature of the laws governing service animals and a general lack of information on the part of the general public, a tendency towards abuse has emerged in terms of individuals referring to their pets as service animals. Doing so is actively detrimental towards service animals and their beneficiaries and, as responsible custodians of the pet industry, the onus falls on us to ensure that the pets we sell are not being used as tools of manipulation. As with most things in the pet trade, know your state and local laws, and be sure to inform your customers, especially if there is talk of using a new pet as a service animal.

For more information on the differences between service animals and companion animals, as well as for summaries of how the law interacts with these sorts of animals, be sure to check the ADA’s online brief. . In addition, The Independence Center offers a number of resources on service and companion animals at their website. While some of their information is local to Colorado, much of it is applicable to states across the country. And, if you’re interested in seeing the good done by service animals, check out Pets for Patriots, which compiles a number of resources on service animals in the military.

Service Dogs

ECAD, Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities held two team training sessions in October and December, placing five service dogs and two facility dogs in new homes.

The sessions were unusual, because the five service dogs placed were successor dogs – five amazing canines stepping into the paw prints of the five amazing service dogs who have died during the past 12 months.

“It is always a sad event when a beloved canine companion passes away. When a service dog leaves its person, the effect can be devastating to the person, and often to the entire family in life altering ways,” said Lu Picard, ECAD co-founder and director of programs.

“It’s like, in relatable terms, to being told you no longer have a divers’ license. Remember the sense of freedom you felt when you got your first drivers’ license – with it you were could hit the road, go new places, see new things. You were free,” Picard continued. “For a person who has had the assistance of a service dog for a number of years it is the same: they are grounded, with little freedom or help in their daily life, the routine their trained canine allowed them to have.”

Picard also said that, when pairing a successor dog with a client, she makes an effort to reduce the “comparison” factor. While this is natural, Picard wants the clients to realize that the new service dog, while having the same skills, may have different personalities from the former. Also, the successor service dog will be close to two years old, where the client will have become accustomed to an older helper.

The clients receiving Successor service dogs in December represent a variety of disabilities and needs.

Kevin Conlon, of Queensbury, NY, is a veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq, and a graduate of ECAD’s Project HEAL Program.

Anthony Turturro, of Brooklyn, was a teenager riding a bike when a speeding car hit him, throwing Anthony up in the air, effectively ending forever Anthony’s life as he knew it. As a result of this tragedy, Turturro suffers from TBI and physical injuries that affect his mobility and balance. Turturro also lost the ability to speak clearly.

Carolyn Sires of Branford and West Haven and her first ECAD Canine, Blue, were known throughout the state for their advocacy work on behalf of veterans. service dog Victory will continue to work alongside Sires in this capacity.

October Team Training graduates were Zoraya Irizarry and service dog Zen of Hartford and Greg Demeule and service dog Advocate of Manchester, NH.

Advocate is Demeule’s third ECAD service dog. Born with cerebral palsy, Demeule credits Ali, his first, with getting him out of his wheelchair and walking with just a cane. His second, Sprinkles, helped him daily when they went off to college. Now Advocate will help him climb the stairs to his apartment where he lives and works as an academic advisor for on-line students at Southern New Hampshire University. Demeule credits his service dogs with helping him to overcome the stereotypical impression most have of people with his condition.

Irizarry has issues that cause crippling anxiety and panic attacks that can lead to disassociation. With service dog Zen she will be able to lead a normal life on her terms, just as she did with Mickey, who helped her each and every day. In an interesting twist, service dog Mickey was paired with Irizarry’s daughter, Karla, when Karla was 13 and dealing with multiple mood disorders. Within a short time, Karla had become an honor student and a Special Olympics star. As her need for Mickey lessened, her mother’s need increased. Mickey worked miracles for both. service dog Zen has jumped right into Mickey’s giant paw prints, according to Irizarry.

In October, facility dog Disney was placed with handlers from the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES in Yorktown Heights, NY, where he will help students, particularly those with special needs. In December, facility dog Peace was placed with handlers from the Child Abuse Prevention Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. Peace will comfort and help children who have been traumatized and/or abused.

New Furry Companion

A Panhandle veteran is overcoming his recently worsened PTSD with the help of a new best friend.

What seemed like a normal drive home from work for Jose Flores turned into a PTSD nightmare.

A Dumas fire he drove by brought back some of the horrors he faced fighting overseas for our country.

“The smell just brought me back to when I got blown up in Iraq, just that smoke, just brought back flashbacks. I thought I was there, I was alone at the time and I kind of panicked,” said Jose Flores, baseball instructor at D-bat.

The effects of that fire carried over on a few weeks as Flores was found crying in his office by colleagues.

“It was a surprise to us, and we started paying more attention and being a little more considerate,” said Robbie Wine, owner at D-bat.

Wine and his wife knew they had to help a struggling friend.

Home For Strays

A stray dog and cat were neutered for free at an animal rescue center in the Pudong New Area, as the neutering reservation service for the public issued on WeChat account “ala_chong” was launched yesterday.

The male dog was recently taken in by a Shanghai Public Security Bureau dog shelter, and was quarantined for seven days for medical observation, said Zha Zhenliang, director of a local rescue and adoption center for small creatures. The male cat was taken in by a resident.

The center is in charge of neutering procedures, established last month by the Shanghai Spiritual Civilization Construction Committee Office, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s social order department and the Shanghai Agriculture and Rural Affairs Commission. The center encourages people to keep pets in a civilized way and rescue stray animals.

After the quick surgery, they both recovered well. The cat was adopted by the people who rescued it, and the dog was taken in by Shanghai Animal Rescue, a private organization comprised of expats and returnees from overseas, who will help find him a home.

Ekaterini Alexiadou, a German founder of the organization, has lived in the city for six years and is a manager for a German company. She is also the center’s first foreign volunteer, and has helped with the adoptions of more than 800 stray dogs over the past four years.

The free neutering service for stray cats is open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9:30am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4pm. The service for stray dogs isn’t open to the public yet, but will be managed by the state-owned dog shelter.

The city’s first sterilization operation vehicle for stray cats began making the rounds in Pudong in mid-December.

All veterinarians are volunteers with certificates and more than two years of experience. Volunteers from companies, including pet food provider Royal Canin, Shanghai Disney and online game developer Boke, will work in the rescue center taking reservations.

Service Animals On Planes

Those days of taking peacocks and pot-belly pigs as service animals on airplanes are over according to the Department of Transportation.

Tony Stokes trains dogs everyday, one wagging tail at a time. They sit, jump and come.

“Dogs can be very easy to train because they are constantly seeking reward, just like we are,” said Tony Stokes, Training Director, Lead Your K9.

This is one of the reasons why the Department of Transportation released this 122 page document, highlighting its final rules on what they consider a service animal.

It says: “this final rules defines a service animal as a dog, regardless of breed or type, that is individually trained to do work of perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability.”

“They can be comforting, they can be a nice companion, they can be very nice and enjoyable for outdoor activities and they can also be good family pets,” said Stokes.

He says at the end of the day, they are called man’s best friend for a reason.

There is a loophole though. The new ruling states airlines can recognize emotional support animals as pets and they can even put a limit on service animals.

Support Animals In Michigan

 A plan to limit the use of emotional support animals in Michigan will not become law.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed House Bill 4910 on Wednesday, which would have required people to obtain a disability diagnosis to receive an emotional support animal and made it a crime to falsely claim a pet is an providing emotional support.

The bill would have required doctors to treat a patient for six months before prescribing an emotional support animal. Official designation as an emotional support animal allows their owners to live with them in public housing or group homes.

In a letter to the Michigan House, Whitmer said the bill required landlords to access private medical information about prospective tenants with emotional support animals and also violates the Fair Housing Act, which could places Michigan’s Section 8 funding at risk.

“While I appreciate the intent behind these bills — to ensure that housing providers are able to verify the need for emotional support animals — these bills result in too great an intrusion on the privacy of people with disabilities,” Whitmer wrote.

She indicated that she is willing to work with lawmakers on emotional support animal reforms in the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Dogs Provide More Than Comfort

The news came on December 21, the shortest day of what has been the longest year of our lives.

The vet confirmed our worst fears. Our stalwart COVID canine companion, “Tashi,” an 11-year-old yellow lab, has a rare form of cancer, one beyond the abilities of veterinary medicine to cure.

The only good news is that it is of a type that seldom causes pain or undue discomfort — to the dog. We, on hearing this prognosis, felt nothing but pain, discomfort, and profound sadness.

During months of confinement, she has been our lifeline.

We are apparently not alone in this. According to Dr. Megan Mueller, co-director at the Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction, pets provide “nonjudgmental emotional support,” and studies show that “contact with pets help reduces anxiety, particularly when you are experiencing a stressful situation.”

Our stress-reducer, Tashi, came into my life as a surprise.

Almost 12 years ago, as my sixtieth birthday approached, my family decided I needed a dog.

The thinking, so I was later told, was to provide me with daily exercise and perhaps fill a bit of the empty nest-void resulting from our children having headed off to college.

My wife and two kids had heard me speak fondly of my parent’s dogs, Boston terriers. The first was Phoebe (so named by my dad for a fleeting — or was it fleeing? — girlfriend of mine), and then Rufus (again, named by my dad, this time for a character portrayed by my brother Tom in an IHS play).

In later years, my mom had owned a Jack Russell terrier, Penny. For our kids growing up, it had been the dog in their lives.

But this would be the first dog to come into our immediate family. My son and Karen did copious research and decided a Labrador retriever would best fit the bill. They furtively reserved a pup from an upcoming litter and presented me with a picture of my new best friend as a birthday gift.

The chosen one was a female, smaller than her siblings. We named her Tashi, after a dog that had followed our family on a multi-day trek in Bhutan’s Himalayas. Our guide had told us it meant “good fortune.”

From our perspective, Tashi more than lived up to her name.

Like virtually all labs, she is food-driven and thus relatively easy to train and motivate. She shares her breed’s other traits, including a beguiling tilt of the head and a goofy grin, as well as a saint-like tolerance of children and an unbounded enthusiasm for any visitors.

As a bonus, Tashi does not bark (other than an occasional and barely audible “woof” while chasing an imaginary rabbit as she sleeps). This makes her a less-than-ideal guard dog; indeed, she would make a better accomplice.

Tashi particularly loves car trips, long or short. This gives me a ready companion when I head out solo on travel writing assignments. A few years ago, I went to Ipswich, South Dakota, (for a Chronicle piece) and then to Mount Rushmore and the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana For HuffPost.

Tashi was the perfect traveling companion, happy in the knowledge that I would split my fast-food french fries with her. (Traveling away from Karen’s watchful eye allowed us both greater culinary leeway than at home.)

Tashi loves boating on Ipswich Bay and — most especially — roaming around the sandbars off Crane Beach at low tide. She also revels in our family’s annual late August week at Camp Wiyaka, nestled in the hills of New Hampshire, where she and upwards of a half-dozen other dogs frolic leash-free.

But the time that has mattered most, to us, her human companions, are the past 10 months. We have, of necessity, been cooped up, but she has made things infinitely easier. I firmly believe it will be found that dogs will have saved more marriages than all human marriage counsellors combined during this pandemic.

We are not yet ready to say a final goodbye — the vet says there might be a few months left — but every day we will be saying “thank you” and giving her a larger share of hugs. And as much of her favorite food as she wishes. She is, after all, a lab.

Hospitals’ Pet Pals

The Pet Pals haven’t been able to visit the hospital because of the pandemic, but that didn’t stop them from dressing up and spreading holiday cheer

All year long, the specially trained Pet Pals at University Hospitals help to bring joy and reduce stress in hospital patients. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic however, the Pet Pals haven’t been able to visit their friends in the hospital. Instead, they’ve been staying in contact with patients, families and UH staff through photos and YouTube videos. According to University Hospitals, service animals like the Pet Pals can help children and adults in many ways. They can provide a source of healing touch, help reduce stress, promote healing, lower blood pressure, and lift spirits.

Palm Beach Kennel Club

With the end of greyhound racing in Florida on the horizon, officials from both Palm Beach Kennel Club and Greyhound Pet Adoption say their goal is to get every greyhound adopted after their racing days are done.

Dec. 31 marks the final day for greyhound racing in the Sunshine State after Florida voters overwhelmingly passed an amendment in 2018 to end the sport.

“That’s gonna be the goal; to get 100 percent [of the greyhounds adopted],” says Pat Rooney, Jr., the President of Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach. ” I’m really confident we’re gonna get there.”

Rooney, Jr. says Palm Beach Kennel Club takes great pride in working with the kennels, owners of the dogs and groups like Greyhound Pet Adoption Southeast Florida in order to ensure each and every dog goes a loving and appropriate home.

“We say greyhounds are like potato chips. You can’t have just one,” jokes Jeff Cole, President of Greyhound Pet Adoption in Southeast Florida.

“When you bring them into your home, they appreciate everything you do,” Cole continues. “They are brilliant animals and they make wonderful companions.”

Cole, who has headed Greyhound Pet Adoption in the area for the last five years, encourages families looking into adopting a pet to consider retired racing greyhounds.

“There’s a non-verbal connection that you have with them. The demeanor of them. They’re loyal to you.”

Cole says as the deadline approaches, the amount of families looking to adopt the dogs has skyrocketed not just in Southeast Florida, but across the entire country.

“There is plenty of demand and supply,” says Cole. “I have a feeling the supply will run out before the demand.”

Much like Rooney, Jr., Cole acknowledges that some dogs at Palm Beach Kennel Club will travel to other states to continue their racing careers, but the expectation is to get as many as possible adopted.

Ante Up, a three-year-old retired racing greyhound, is the perfect example. Ante Up now serves as a service dog for his owner, Phyllis Alasia.

“He’s a goofball when he’s off duty,” Alasia says of Ante Up, who previously raced at Palm Beach Kennel Club.

Alasia’s advice to those considering adopting?

“Give them time when you get them. They’re like a new puppy coming into your home,” Alasia says. “They need your patience — just for a few weeks — and then they try to take over! They’re wonderful companions and pets.”