Nice article in today’s Fort Carson Mountaineer newspaper about the newly established Red Cross therapy dog program at Evans Army Community Hospital. Of course, I’m a little biased because that’s our wonderful dog, Zephan, in the picture:

Red Cross Therapy Dog at Fort Carson Colorado

There’s no direct link to the article – you have to get the complete newspaper pdf and then look on page 21. One caveat: “service dog” wasn’t used accurately in the article – they should’ve just been described as therapy dogs. Nothing sinister there, just an honest mistake somewhere along the way in the preparation or editing of the article.

http://csmng.com/wp-files/mountaineer-weekly-pdfs/mountaineer_2009-03-27.pdf

Well, maybe one other caveat. I had to laugh a little at that picture, because Zephan almost looks scared to me. Anybody who knows him knows he loves kids, and, of course, I was there (that’s my hand holding the leash) – he was definitely not afraid of that little boy.

The therapy dog teams have been visiting all over the hospital, not just in the public areas (that picture was taken in the pharmacy) – ICU, wards, physical therapy, pediatrics, etc. – pretty much anywhere that you don’t have to gown up to enter.  And the program has been very well received by everyone so far – patients, staff, other volunteers, you name it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people literally chase us down the hall to pet Zephan, light up once they’re around him, and then tell you that you made their day.

Definitely a very rewarding thing – if you have a dog you think might be able to qualify as a therapy dog and it interests you, I’d encourage you to pursue it.