Lucy’s latest gig

So, I haven’t updated the “beagle” part of this blog for a while. About 8 months ago, Lucy got a new gig doing therapy at Primary Children’s Medical Center in SLC. She mostly just walks around being adorable and letting people fawn over her.

One kid earlier tonight asked “What does Lucy do?”.
His mom answered “She makes people feel better.”
And the kid said “It’s working! I feel better already!”

I wish I could inundate my loyal readers with lots of adorable pictures of Lucy and little kids, but since I’m in a hospital setting, there are strict privacy laws. But I can tell you some sweet, heart-warming, gut-wrenching anecdotes!

– One astute little boy who was probably around 10 started hugging Lucy and said “I can feel the stress leaving my body. Wait, it’s not going into her body, is it???” I assured the little sweetheart that it wasn’t.

– I walked into a room of one 12 year-old girl who’d requested a visit, and she was crying, obviously in a lot of pain. I caught her mother’s eye and waved and tried to excuse myself so as not to bother the girl, and the girl yells out “Wait, don’t leave!”. I brought Lucy over to her bedside and she reached out and pet her, even while the tears were still streaming down her face. Even in those crappy and painful moments, this girl still wanted some pet therapy.

– A little girl who was still in a crib was having a visit with Lucy. She was eating some Gerber puffs and grabbed a handful from her little can. Before I knew what was happening, Lucy leaned over the lowered side of the crib and snatched a puff from the girl’s hand!!! I was mortified, but before I could even apologize to the mother, the little girl started laughing hysterically. The mom and I shrugged at each other, and the little girl held out another Gerber puff, which Lucy eagerly snatched again. More hysteria. Even though I knew Lucy probably shouldn’t be eating those, and the girl’s mother knew that she shouldn’t be wasting them (that stuff is expensive!) neither of us tried to stop this feeding frenzy…it was just too damn cute!

– One 8 year-old girl was mostly unresponsive, but her parents requested a visit. I walked in and plopped Lucy up on the bed with her. Lucy nudged the girl’s hand, and suddenly she smiled. The parents started crying and told me they hadn’t seen her smile in weeks. She smiled at least twice more during our short visit.

So those are just a few of the fun stories I have from visiting the children’s hospital. It’s an amazing place, and I feel really lucky that I have something to offer these kids, just by holding a leash. My dog may be a total punk at home sometimes, but she really has a gift, and I’m so lucky to be able to share it with the world!