Shelter dogs find home, offer comfort at senior rehab home
Ginger has soft rolls of fur on her face and big, brown eyes — and she loves nothing more than to sit on someone’s feet or give sloppy dog kisses. Fred, with quizzical black eyebrows and a dark muzzle, is still a bit shy, but jumps with excitement when the people he knows well enter the room.
The two dogs live at Memphis Jewish Home and Rehab in Cordova, offering emotional support and companionship to the 160 seniors there for rehabilitation services and long-term care.
Unlike previous dogs who have lived at the home, both Ginger and Fred came from area shelters.
“We’re here to provide a better quality of life for the residents,” said Robert Caldarera-Brown, activity coordinator and head of the pet therapy program. “When we walk in with the dogs, they just light up.”
In the past, the home’s dogs came from breeders. When two of their three dogs passed away, they decided to take a chance on adopting from a shelter.
They needed someone sweet, who “seeks out human attention,” said Alexis Pugh, director of Memphis Animal Services. They wanted a dog who was good with other dogs, not rambunctious and tall enough that residents could pet from their bed.
Ginger, a calm, confident dog who likes to hog attention, was an obvious choice.
“She has these gorgeous glowing eyes and this soft, slightly wrinkly face,” Pugh said. “You can see her soul. It’s like she’s looking at you like a person would. There’s just a real human quality to her that gives you an instant bond.”
When the home’s other dog had to be retired, they looked for a second dog at Memphis Animal Services, but couldn’t find one Ginger liked.
Eventually, they turned to Bartlett Animal Shelter. There, Ginger rejected a few more dogs, but CaldareraBrown asked to see Fred, a dog the shelter worried might be too shy and skittish. Ginger and Fred hit it off immediately, he said.
“Ginger wouldn’t be as near as happy if she didn’t have him to play with and have that interaction with,” Caldarera-Brown said.
Angela Klein, manager of the Bartlett Animal Shelter, said it says a lot
Robert Caldarera-Brown
about the home that they were willing to take the time to allow Fred to adjust to his environment.
“It’s giving a dog a home,” Klein said. “They’re pretty much going to have constant attention. There’s always someone around, always someone there.”
Now, Fred is warming to residents and becoming more confident with a little help from Ginger.
“They’re wonderful,” said Sandra Abel, who has lived at the home for about a year. “People enjoy them. It’s a feeling of you can love someone and you can help them if they need it.”
Abel said she had to give her dog to her son when she moved into Memphis Jewish Home and Rehab. Having Ginger — who she has a particularly strong connection to — around reminds her of her beagle. She hopes that other rehabilitation facilities and nursing homes will also take a chance on a shelter dog.
If she could, Ginger would sit on a resident’s foot snuggling all day, Abel said. Ginger loves attention — even nudging people away from petting Fred to try and get all the love herself.
When Fred is “shaking hands,” Ginger will offer her own paw, sometimes forgetting to sit down first.
“You can’t stand and shake at the same time,” Caldarera-Brown told Ginger. “That’s not ladylike.”
The home’s pet therapy program has been funded by Allen Iskiwitz since 2011. Iskiwitz has been a supporter of both Memphis Animal Services and Memphis Jewish Home and Rehab and helped make the connection between the two groups.
When he arrived for a visit to the home recently, he scratched behind Ginger’s ears and was glad to see Fred’s progress.
Iskiwitz also learned the results of DNA tests for the two dogs, whose breeds were not identified before adoption. Ginger is a Shar Pei lab mix, while Fred is a black mouth cur. At the home, the dogs spend much of their day in the activities center, which is equipped with dog bowls and beds.
To Pugh, it’s particularly important that Memphis Jewish Home and Rehab took a chance on shelter dogs, rather than fearing that an adopted dog might have more issues than a purebred.
Employees at the home say they don’t see a difference in how the adopted dogs interact with residents compared to the previous dogs.
“It’s not just about people saving shelter pets, it’s about shelter pets giving back to the people in their lives,” Pugh said.
Katherine Burgess covers county government and the suburbs. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.