Something to smile about
Charlie the therapy dog is a star at Howard dentist office
HOWARD — The quickest way to see someone's smile at Sierra Dental is to bring up Charlie.
Since joining the staff last year, the 3-year-old cockapoo is easily the most popular guy in whatever room he happens to be in, whether greeting people in the reception area or putting patients at ease while they're in the chair or making the rounds at the daily morning meeting.
Dr. Martin Williams, or Dr. Marty as his young patients call him, doesn't take it personally. After all, it was his idea to bring him on board.
“Oh yeah, he's the rock star,” said Williams, who owns both Charlie and Sierra Dental.
Office manager Jessica Zuidmulder puts it like this, “Nobody asks for Marty. Everybody asks for Charlie.”
Charlie has become such a favorite that Williams has had to adjust the dog's office hours to meet demand. Two afternoons a week, Charlie punches out and spends time hanging poolside and playing with his fellow canines at Poochies & Mutts daycare. He used to go Mondays and Wednesdays, but Williams moved the latter to Thursdays, the same day he doesn't see patients, to minimize Charlie-less hours.
“People will come on Monday afternoons and say, ‘What? Charlie's not here?'” Williams said. “They look forward to seeing him. Some of the moms will say the kids are coming in on such and such a day and they want to know if Charlie is going to be here.”
Now to be fair, people also want to know if Williams is going to be there when they come, but it's so not the same thing.
Wherever Dr. Marty goes, Charlie goes
In his 36 years as a dentist, Williams never saw this one coming. An assistant years ago suggested he get an office dog, but he brushed it aside, convinced that could never work.
When he and his wife got Charlie as a puppy in 2018 after their three children were grown, the understanding was it would essentially be Williams' dog. He grew up with dogs and had one as a kid he took to obedience school and trained to stay in the yard before invisible dog fencing showed up on the scene.
Charlie started tagging along to Sierra Dental, not with on-the-job training in mind, but just to be near Williams. What began with a kennel in the basement became a kennel in Williams' office and then eventually a baby gate that kept Charlie confined to the office but allowed kids to come up and say hello.
After Charlie completed beginning, intermediate and advanced puppy and obedience classes as well as the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen program, Williams decided to see what would happen if he let him roam freely around Sierra Dental.
Charlie was a quick study, following Williams from operatory to operatory greeting patients and gladly accepting any attention. Then, once Williams began a dental procedure, Charlie would go in the hall outside the room, sprawl out and wait.
Yes, lying down on the job is totally acceptable. Even encouraged.
“Everybody knows where I am, because wherever Charlie is is kind of where I am,” Williams said. “He does actually calm people down just by being there and letting people pet him or when he goes out into the reception room and greets them. He just kind of goes back and forth.”
Charlie went through PetSmart's six-week therapy dog course twice — his diploma hangs in Williams' office — but Williams didn't get him fully certified as a therapy dog, because he had no plans to take him to hospitals or long-term care facilities. But there's no doubt Charlie's friendly, happy-go-lucky temperament puts people at ease and lifts spirits.
He has a knack for sensing if someone is feeling anxious about their visit to the dentist. He'll show up and do what he does best: look adorable. That's often followed by the irresistible urge for people to want to pet him, a welcome distraction for someone dreading the sound of a dental drill.
“Some patients, especially the younger kids, they really like when he's in the room with them. He calms them down a little bit if they're really nervous,” Zuidmulder said. “We have other patients where he sat right at the bottom of the chair and put his head on their leg. He's really helped out a lot around here.”
He’s a team effort, belly rubs included
Charlie arrives in the morning with the kind of enthusiasm most people only wish they had — bounding through the front doors eager to see which of his coworkers are already there.
“He goes crazy when he sees them in the morning. He snuggles right up to them and they have to pet him,” Williams said. “He goes over and gets a belly rub.”
He's been known to catch a nap on the clock (shhh, he has his own bed in the office), and there are times, especially after a weekend, he's tuckered out and Williams has to ask him to come into a room to visit a patient.
“I threaten him that he'll get written up and put on probation if he doesn't work hard enough,” he said.
As a cocker spaniel-poodle mix, Charlie's nonshedding coat means he's not likely to cause a reaction to those with dog allergies. Still, not everyone is a dog lover, so for those handful of patients who prefer to take a pass on Charlie, Williams makes sure he's in his office during their appointments. Charlie bears no grudges.
It has taken a commitment to training and an investment in time to make Charlie part of the Sierra Dental team. Staff members have been schooled in how to handle him. Some things are still a work in progress, like when kids get Charlie a little too wound up and he wants to jump up and say hello. His co-workers know to just get down to his level and pet him there.
“They know the commands, and they know what I expect of him. It's a team effort,” Williams said. “Charlie knows what he's got to do. He has to be calm and gentle. He knows when he's working, he's working.”
Take him outside on the lawn for a break to run around, however, and “he can go from 0 to 100 mph” real quick. A couple of Williams' patients who live across the street occasionally stop by and take Charlie for a walk with their dog, because sometimes you just need to get out of the office for a bit.
When he's not working as a dental dog extraordinaire, Charlie likes to spend his weekends going for walks and — his favorite thing — chasing a ball. But not just any old ball or a tennis ball, Charlie goes crazy for bacon-scented balls.
He gets his teeth brushed regularly at home. It comes with the territory when you live with a dentist.
“But he doesn't like it,” Williams said.