Therapy Dogs

It’s well-known that having a pet or support animal can provide significant psychological benefits to people suffering from stress, anxiety or loneliness. A new study at the Mayo Clinic suggests that pet therapy can also help people with fibromyalgia.

To gain a better understanding of the physiological and emotional benefits of pet therapy, researchers monitored the hormones, heart rate, temperature and pain levels of 221 patients enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Fibromyalgia Treatment Program. Half of the participants spent 20 minutes interacting with a therapy dog and its handler, while the other half served as a control group, spending the same amount of time with the handler only.

The research findings, recently published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, are striking. People who interacted with a therapy dog had a statistically significant increase in levels of salivary oxytocin – a hormone released by the pituitary gland that is known as the “cuddle hormone” or “love hormone.”

They were also more relaxed, their heart rates decreased, and they reported more positive feelings and fewer negative ones compared to the control group. Over 80% agreed or strongly agreed that animal therapy was helpful to them.

Pain levels declined in both groups, but there was a larger decrease in those who interacted with the therapy dogs. On average, severe pain scores in that group dropped to more moderate levels.

“Given that individuals with FM (fibromyalgia) suffer pain chronically, this reduction, even if numerically minimal, could help to provide symptomatic relief and quality of life improvement,” researchers concluded. “Overall, the study showed that a 20-minute human-animal interaction (treatment group) as well as a human-human interaction (control group) could improve the emotional and physiological state of patients with FM; however, those who interacted with a therapy dog showed a more robust improvement.”

Fibromyalgia is a poorly understood disorder characterized by widespread body pain, fatigue, poor sleep, anxiety and depression. Its cause is unknown and many treatments prove ineffective.

Shelby The Therapy Dog

Animals have a profound effect on people. A friendly face and a wagging tail can brighten up even the worst day. EMT’s and Paramedics routinely respond to life and death situations. Dealing with all that stress can be a challenge.

Diane Sampson is the Operations Supervisor for AMR in Jackson.

She says, “We work 12 hour shifts, and so sometimes the days are pretty long, and a lot of our crews, if they’ve had a really rough day, they come in and look for Shelby, and they just play and love on Shelby, and she loves them back.”

EMT Alex Robinson adds, “They love her. Every time they walk into the station, it’s, ‘Where’s Shelby? Where’s Shelby?’ ”

Shelby is a 15 month old Golden Doodle, and as of last month, she’s a certified therapy dog. Of course she can sit, stay and lie down, but her training went much deeper than that.

Diane, who is also Shelby’s primary handler explains, “You have to be able to give her something to eat, reach down and take the food from her, and she shows no aggression that you took the food.”

Let’s face it, most people couldn’t do that.

Alex, who is Shelby’s secondary handler adds, “No, there is not a mean bone at all, not at all.”

Even Shelby’s golden fleece has healing properties.

Diane explains, “It can lower heart rate, lower the blood pressure, increase endorphin production. It just has a real benefit.”

We asked, “Shelby is kind of magic, isn’t she?”

Diane answered, “She really is, and she knows it, and she’s spoiled.”

But she’s also totally worth it. To pet her, is to be at peace.

Shelby picked up some of her skills at 3 D Dog Training, here in Jackson. Golden doodles can make good therapy dogs. Shelby’s brother is also a therapy dog in South Mississippi.

Shelter Dog Becomes ESA

After being left tied to a post in the Hawkins County Humane Society parking lot overnight last week through a torrential downpour, a Labrador mix that was later named Oakley should be the one in need of emotional support.

Oakley literally ran his paws bloody during the 12-hour ordeal.

Instead, it’s Oakley who will be providing comfort for his new owner as a newly registered emotional support animal.

HCHS video surveillance shows a man stopping at the Rogersville shelter on July 28 at 9:22 p.m. and tying Oakley to a clothesline post next to the parking lot.

Oakley had no shelter when a thunderstorm hit later that night, and he wasn’t discovered until staff arrived at the shelter the next morning.

HCHS Manager Sandy Behnke is hoping someone will recognize the person who abandoned Oakley from a still photo captured from the video. She hopes to identify the person and prosecute him for animal neglect.

“When we came into work on July 29, (Oakley) was wet and his paws were bloody from trying to get out of the rain all night and possibly to go find his owners who dropped him off,” Behnke said. “After viewing the video, we noticed the man took (Oakley) out of the car and tied him to a pole and drove off. You can see the dog try to chase him, only to be yanked back from the rope.”

Behnke added, “Also in viewing the video, we noticed the hard rain that fell that night. It would not have bothered us if he would have tied him where there was shelter, like by the back or front door, but there was nowhere for this baby to get out of the weather.”

Vickie Kiker read about Oakley on the HCHS Facebook page and contacted the HCHS about her daughter, Chloe Quann, who needed an emotional support animal (ESA). Vickie and Chloe then went to the shelter to meet Oakley, and it was love at first sight.

Chloe told the Times News on Tuesday she suffers from anxiety and depression and because she is pregnant she had to stop taking her medication.

Since being adopted last week, Oakley has already become a registered ESA.

When she saw Oakley’s photo on Facebook, the first thing she noticed was he looked exactly like her dog that passed away two years ago.

“After I seen him, my mom’s like, ‘I’m not trying to push a dog on you, but I think you need to go look at this dog,’ ” Chloe said. “I went and looked at him that day, and then I fell in love with him. He was extremely friendly. Where I’m pregnant, I need a dog that’s good with kids. I need one that’s extremely friendly.”

She added, “I’m not on my medication where I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He is a Lab mix, and labs are best for emotional support dogs. After I met him and he and I clicked right off the bat, I figured he would be perfect for my emotional support dog. I got him registered as my emotional support dog already, and we’re just waiting for the tag to arrive in the mail.”

Shelter staff believe Oakley is between 1-3 years of age, and undoubtedly the experience of being left at the shelter overnight was traumatic. Chloe said he’s doing very well and adapting to his new home.

His paws are healing with the help of Chloe, who bought ointment and some little paw booties to keep him from rubbing off the medicine

“He was timid at first until he realized I wasn’t going to take him somewhere and leave him again,” Chloe said. “I took him for a ride to get a pup cup (dog ice cream), and he was terrified to get into the car. Now he realizes he’s coming back home with me again, and he’s fine.”

Chloe added, “I can’t see why anyone would leave something this precious out in the open like that. He’s good with other dogs. He’s good with kids. He played with my nephew the other day. He doesn’t bark. He eats a lot, and he’s spoiled. He’s precious. I love him.”

Therapy Dog Award

As voting continues for the 2020 American Humane Hero Dog of the Year, a crew from the Hallmark Channel came to Jefferson City last week to record Olive’s acceptance as the therapy dog winner.

Olive, a poodle mix who gained notoriety as a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate, seemed nonplussed as she sat in a Cole County courtroom under the bright lights Thursday afternoon.

She sat on a child’s lap as Circuit Judge Jon Beetem explained on camera how Olive calms and distracts children from the drama they find themselves thrust into within the court system. “We’ve worked with Olive for a number of years,” Beetem said. “She is a part of our CASA program — Court Appointed Special Advocates — for our kids in juvenile court.”

CASA is a volunteer-oriented organization made up of a network of people from all walks of life (and one dog) who believe society has a fundamental obligation to make sure children thrive and are treated with dignity and are kept safe. Its volunteers, appointed by judges, watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children. They try to make certain the children don’t get lost in legal and social service systems or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes.

Television people have a distinct idea of what courts look like, Beetem told the crew.

Their views aren’t really reflected in a real courtroom, he continued.

When Olive sits on their laps, she’s usually in a basket.

“That way, she’s comfortable and not worried about falling down,” he said. “Because little kids — they don’t have very big laps.”

Coming into court is among the most traumatic things a child has to do, Beetem said.

“By the time they get to court, their lives have been sort of turned upside down. And they don’t have anywhere to look to for comfort,” Beetem said. “One of the things Olive does — and most of her work is actually done in the hallway — is checking on kids, giving them something to focus on and helping them to relax a little bit while they wait for their turn in court.”

Having Olive in the courtroom is almost like having a Teddy bear. Olive is there. She has no agenda. She’s ready to be held and loved, Beetem said.

“It helps the children relax before they get to court, which is not relaxing,” he said. “They have a lot of anxiety. By the time we get them in here, sit them down and have Olive on their lap, they’ve relaxed a little bit,” he said. “Then we’re able to have a conversation. That’s the only way I learn what these kids are thinking.”

Voting for Hero Dog of the Year continues through Sept. 10. Voting is available daily.

George Bush’s Staff Gets Memo About His Dog

One of the best things about our past presidents is that they had dogs. Barack and Michelle Obama seemed to really dig Portuguese water dogs, and had two.

First was Bo, who started hanging out in the White House back in 2009. Sunny followed, joining in 2012.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush were the parents of Barney, a Scottish Terrier that sadly passed away at the age of 13 in 2013. Bill Clinton and Hillary had a dog named Buddy, who was a chocolate-colored Labrador Retriever. Oddly enough, Buddy might not have been quite as popular as Socks, their pet cat. Then, there were the many dogs owned by George H.W. Bush.

He was truly a dog fan, and had pups around him throughout most of his life. Mildred “Millie” Kerr Bush was the Springer Spaniel who was owned by George and his Barbara. His wife Barbara. Sully H. W. Bush is still living, and was the service dog who was by George’s side at the time of his death.

And, then there was Ranger. Ranger was Millie’s son, and sources say that the pup quickly stole George’s heart. But since Millie got most of the attention, not as many people focused on him. When it came to Ranger, President Bush had a unique sense of humor. He knew that Millie was the more popularly known dog, and that many might not be able to tell the two Springer Spaniels apart at first glance. Presidential Pet Museum reported that once, at a 1990 press conference, George poked fun at the common error. “The other day our dog Ranger appeared at a press conference, and he was called Millie [by reporters],” he said. “He’s a strong male dog here, as you can see, and his feelings were slightly hurt.” Ranger was named after the Texas Rangers, and had an immediate bond. In fact, there’s an interesting tidbit of information that Barbara divulged about their relationship.She actually said that George and Ranger often showered together once per day. Ranger made his way into the White House just to be able to have more room to play and roam, and it seems like George had no problem with this arrangement whatsoever. Barbara was also a fan. “He could leap straight up into the air and his handsome face made us laugh,” she said. “He loved to curl up by George’s side and was everything in a dog George wanted.” Ranger also happened to love human food. Who doesn’t? But it became such a big problem that George actually had to write a memo to his staff about it. In 2019, the memo went viral after being shared by Adam Bates for International Dog Day. As the holiday just passed again, it’s getting extra traction. The subject of the memo was called “My Dog ‘Ranger’” and — while it’s never okay to fatshame a dog — you can instantly tell that George wrote the memo with nothing but love. “All offices should take a formal ‘pledge’ that reads as follows: ‘WE AGREE NOT TO FEED RANGER. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM BISCUITS. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM FOOD OF ANY KIND,’” the memo reads. It mentioned that Ranger was on a brand new diet to conquer his weight issues.

Guardian Dogs

The Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission and U.S. Forest Service officials say there have been several incidents lately where people have picked up expensive livestock guardian dogs thinking they are lost or have been abandoned. The dogs, which are often white Great Pyrenees dogs, should be left alone to protect sheep herds, according to officials.

Sheep ranchers and Forest Service officials say this is an emerging problem that is increasing across southern Idaho. Guard dogs are there to protect livestock from predators like coyotes, mountain lions, black bears and wolves.

“I realize that everybody has their own best intentions, but you shouldn’t be taking a guard dog out of its environment, bringing it home, causing undue stress, and exposing it to unnecessary domestication,” says Cory Peavey, a Blaine County sheep rancher, who has had his dogs hauled away to an animal shelter by mistake. “Out of respect for the dog and the rancher, it’s better to leave them where they are,” Peavey says. “Even if they might look lost, they know the way.”

John Noh, with Noh Sheep Company in Kimberly, has had his guard dogs picked up by people who thought the dog was lost and they ended up at a shelter in the Wood River Valley. This forces Noh to go down and get the dog and return it to his sheep flocks.

“These are working dogs that ranchers rely on to non-lethally protect their sheep from predators,” Noh says. “For people to take these animals out of the woods that ranchers have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars feeding and training is wrong.”

Renee Kehler, a range conservationist for the Sawtooth National Forest, says there have been a number of guard dogs picked up by people thinking they were lost or needing attention.

“It’s been happening a lot lately,” Kehler says. “Please treat them like livestock and leave them alone.”

If you have questions, call the local Forest Service office to report any issues and let the range specialists contact the ranchers to check if there are any issues or concerns. Livestock guard dogs often have a collar with a name and phone number on them. If a person has questions, they should also call those numbers to see if the dog is lost, according to a news release. “For me, I’d appreciate a phone call over taking my dog,” Peavey says.

Miracle Puppies

Last August 11 puppies were found abandoned near a dumpster in North Bay and brought to the North Bay Humane Society. What a difference a year makes.

Darlene Sacher of Best Care Kennel who adopted one of the dogs reached out to the other adoptive families inviting them to celebrate their first birthday with a party at the community dog park at Champlain Park.

Of the half dozen or so dogs able to make the party, it was clear from how hard they played with each other, tails constantly wagging, that they are thriving despite their rough start to life.

“We all are friends on Facebook. We created a group called ‘The Dumpster Dogs 11’ and we changed it to ‘Miracle Puppies.’ We’re all friends and we talk regularly about the dogs,” Sacher said.

“Most of the dogs have met. There is maybe two or three who have not met but most of them are best buddies. It is a community now. These dogs are amazing. They have an amazing temperament. Everybody loves their dog.”

When she initially heard their tragic story, she knew without question that she wanted to foster one of the animals.

“We had lost our dog of 12 years the month prior. It was a sad month and we just weren’t in the market for a dog. But August rolled around and I read the story about these abandoned dogs and I wanted to help by fostering one,” Sacher explained.

“Sully grew on us and he never left. Sully is my third rescue. You’re giving an animal a chance at life when you rescue them. Sully is a superstar. He does obedience and he does tricks. He’s a good boy.”

Yvon Albert adopted the dog’s mom which he named Shay, without knowing her backstory.

“I didn’t even know about the story until we had adopted her. She is the smaller of the bunch. Her papers say she is an Alaskan Husky mix.  Her temperament when we first met her was great. We went to the Humane Society with a three-year-old and she seemed to like kids. We knew we were going to keep her. She gets along with all of us and our cat too. She’s a big suck. She always has to press herself against you,” laughed Albert.

“She has met six of the dogs so far and they all seem to get along.”

Sylvie Demers adopted Joey when he was just seven weeks old.

“When we found out the puppies were dumped and the Humane Society was looking for volunteers, I phoned right away to help out. At that point, I had just lost my pet rabbit and I was devastated. I said maybe it is time to give another pet a chance because my previous pet was a rescue,” said Demers.

“I found out the day they went online for adoption and I just went there. I couldn’t wait to get one. My daughter picked him because I couldn’t make up my mind. They were all adorable. She felt he was meant for us. We were looking for a gentle one and the Humane Society said he was quiet and gentle. I want him to be a service dog at some point.” Joey has been a positive addition to her family.

“It is like being a mom again because my two kids are 22 and 19 and it is like starting with a toddler. There is not enough words to say how much we love him.”

Humane Society executive director Liam Cullin vividly remembers the day the puppies were brought to the shelter.

“I was in the office and somebody came into the shelter and they had a box full of newborn puppies just hours old based on the fact they still had their umbilical cords and their eyes were closed. We sprang into action right away,” Cullin recalled.

“We put out a notice on Facebook that we were looking for a nursing mom for the puppies and we got outreach from all over Ontario. We had over 200-thousand people who viewed the post. People offered all kinds of support in terms of food and offers to foster and adopt.”

The puppies were initially bottle-fed.

”We had them for 48 to 72 hours before we were able to get them back with a nursing mom. We were providing 24-hour services for these puppies with hourly feedings. We had foster families step forward. We had volunteers and we had staff members that were working all night for the first couple of days just trying to make sure they were cared for.”

It can be a difficult process matching puppies with a nursing mom.

“There has to be a connection and the nursing mom has to be willing. The post ended up getting back to the original owner and they brought the mom forward and surrendered her,” added shelter manager Janet Bredin.

“There was a brief period of time when the puppies were interested in the mom but she wasn’t interested in them because of the separation so young. But they ended up being under quarantine for a brief period of time and after that, she took to the puppies.”

Bredin was pleased to see how the dogs interacted in such a playful manner.

“A lot of them are bigger than we expected, so it is nice to see them all back together,” grinned Bredin.

“It really shows why we do what we do. It keeps your shoulders broad and the smile on your face. No matter how hard the days get, you always get adopters that come back and want to share their progress; the happiness, and the many good stories.  So, it is really nice to see these dogs coming back happy and healthy.”

The shelter manager stressed that there is always an alternative to dumping unwanted pets or a pet the owner can no longer afford to feed.

“The North Bay Humane Society has always been very confident in saying we don’t want to leave anybody out there stranded. So, if they’re having trouble for whatever reason and they can’t care for the animal, contact us first,” said Bredin.

“These puppies could have potentially died. It is really important for people to ask for help versus just leaving them on the street somewhere.”

Boy In Need Of Seizure Dog

An Old Saybrook woman reached new heights this month, climbing the highest peak in the northeastern United States, Mount Washington. But Paige Marinelli’s path to topping more than 6,200 feet was even more impressive because of whom she climbed for and what she’s been through.

“There was a point where I would’ve never been able to do that,” Paige said.

Paige, now 26, was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 10. After college, her seizures got worse so at 23, she chose to have surgery.

“I had four craniotomies in a month, and they removed a piece of my brain that was causing seizures, and I’ve been seizure free for over thee years,” she told News 12. The recovery was long, but worth it. “My life has improved so much.”

That made Paige want to help others struggling with their health. In January, she began leading an epilepsy support group, which Trumbull mom Jennifer Colello joined a few months later.

Jennifer’s 5-year-old son Andrew loves, puppies, wrestling, and superheroes–plus anything his big brother, Trey, does. Andrew has epilepsy, with seizures that increased in intensity this year. He also was born with the most severe form of spina bifida.

“He had to have a lesion, a very large lesion, closed on his spine at just a day old,” explained Jennifer.

Andrew uses a walker, wears ankle-foot orthotics, and does physical therapy four times a week. His parents always dreamed of another form of help–a service dog trained to detect seizures.

“A dog would be able to give him the independence to sleep on his own,” said Jennifer. “It would be able to alert us to things I’m sure we’re already probably missing.”

A dog would also help with Andrew’s stability while walking, but it wasn’t an option right now.

“Knowing how expensive they were, we never thought we’d be able to afford it on our own,” Andrew’s dad, Richard Colello, said.

Then, came a plan from the young woman who’d become a source of support for Jennifer in recent months.

“I got a phone call from Paige saying, ‘You know, I’ve always wanted to climb Mount Washington. I want to do this for Andrew, I want to do this in Andrew’s honor.”

Paige would climb for a cause, raising money to get Andrew his dog.

“Here she is a mom–just like my mom–going through raising a child with epilepsy. How could I not extend my heart to her?” Paige told News 12.

“I was just like dumbfounded in the beginning,” remembered Jennifer. “It seemed too good to be true.”

The fundraising campaign quickly reached–then surpassed its goal. It was up to $24,000 when Paige and her team set off from the base of Mount Washington on Aug. 15.

“It was exhausting and challenging, but it was so worth it in every way,” Paige said. “It was really beautiful and meaningful, and I guess every step meant something. When I did get to the top, I sat down and I had this moment of ‘look at what we just did?!'”

Paige said Andrew was there with her in spirit the entire way up. He was also there in-person at the bottom of the mountain. The Colellos made the drive up to New Hampshire to celebrate Paige completing the climb.

“We had flowers ready for her. Andrew gave them to her,” said Jennifer.

“It was definitely a moment of connection and everyone was just so happy. There’s definitely no question about us being friends for life now,” Paige said.

“I cannot thank her enough for the gift she gave us and our family. Andrew’s going to grow by leaps and bounds with this service puppy. I truly believe that,” Richard told News 12.

The Colellos have been accepted into a service dog program for 2022. Jennifer says it’s a little ways off, but it will be worth the wait. As for Paige, she plans to continue to be an advocate for people with epilepsy and do a new challenge every year to raise money and awareness.

Pets Recovering From Syndrome

One of the most common causes of acute loss of coordination and head tilt in dogs is called the canine idiopathic vestibular syndrome. This is a pretty scary situation for pet owners because their dogs were fine one moment and in the next, they can barely walk!

What causes this vestibular syndrome? Nobody knows but the silver lining is that the patients can respond within two weeks and most recover with just a residual gait disturbance or a small lifelong head tilt. The condition is similar to vertigo in people. My vestibular patients receive acupuncture and usually recover or have dramatically diminished symptoms within 48 hours.

The concerning part of the vestibular syndrome is that at first glance it is often indistinguishable from other serious conditions like brain tumors, inner ear deep-seated infections, toxicity in the ear membrane, or brain stroke. Seeking veterinary care immediately is a must. The veterinarian will test your pet’s nerve system and rule out most of these. There is danger in jumping to conclusions and euthanizing a pet that looks like it is in a lot of distress but in my opinion, it is important to wait at least 48 hours to see if the condition is an underlying progressive issue or just vestibular syndrome.The prognosis is definitively worse for those pets suffering from brain tumors since there is not much that medicine can offer to cure them, just to do palliative “hospice” care and maintain quality of life. Ear medications can cause ototoxicity, meaning the ear membrane swells in reaction to the drug and causes pain, loss of hearing ( might be reversed), and the loss of balance and head tilt that characterizes vestibular syndrome. Inner ear infections or polyps can cause the same symptoms.Treatment of vestibular syndrome often includes supportive therapy such as intravenous fluids and nourishment. It might also require hospitalization until the pet can eat and walk on its own. If your dog is seriously disoriented or stumbles, it may be given a sedative to help it calm down. Cerenia or other nausea medication can help settle the tummy. Dramamine may be beneficial since it is a motion sickness drug. Antibiotics may be used in cases suspected of having middle or inner ear infections. A short course of steroids might also be beneficial.

The Chinese herbal formula Bu Yang Huan Wu is excellent for the treatment of strokes in humans and I have successfully used it for over a decade in the treatment of vestibular disease in dogs and strokes. Aquapuncture using vitamin B12 in the acupuncture points TH17 and GB20 are local points to the head and they help to quickly move the Qi or energy.

We have seen several cases of older dogs suffering from this vestibular syndrome and the main thing they had in common was being geriatric pets and having extremely loving and caring pet parents that quickly intervened once they saw them in distress.

Honoring All-American Dog Ruger