Wagging tail makes the rounds to lift spirits at western Pennsylvania hospital
A bark and the wag of a tail can make the biggest difference in a person’s day.
Duncan, a blond, curly-haired 8-year-old Cocker Spaniel with big irresistible eyes, knows all too well how to bring smiles to people’s faces and steal their hearts as the most handsome doctor at UPMC Jameson in Lawrence County.
His nub of a tail starts twitching the minute his owner puts his doctor’s outfit and stethoscope on him. Dr. Duncan knows he has rounds to make, and in return, he’s going to get affection and a maybe few treats.
And the people he is going to visit will also be getting a strong dose of love and attention for awhile, too.
Duncan and his owner and trainer, Lori Hainer, have been making the rounds weekly at UPMC Jameson Hospital with the purpose of cheering up the infirm and those low in spirits.
In addition to producing positive energy, visits from Duncan help with the patients’ range of motion, because it encourages them to reach down and pet him and use their hands, arms and bodies, explained Salandra Fernandez, the director of the hospital’s inpatient rehabilitation unit. On one given day, Duncan visited a man with an amputated leg, and two others who suffered strokes.
Salandra explained that Duncan’s visits also benefit stroke patients emotionally.
“I think he distracts the patients in a good way,” Hainer added, meaning he helps them to forget about their ailments and illnesses for awhile.
“It brightens up the day for the workers, too,” she said. When Duncan shows up in his doctor’s outfit, it lifts their spirits, too, “because they see a lot of sickness and tragedy.”
Hainer, an evaluator clinician in the hospital’s behavioral health department, has a master’s degree in psychology, and Duncan is the third therapy dog that she has trained.
Her first dog, a German shepherd mix named Ben, was a rescue from a Mahoning County shelter and she adopted him after seeing his picture on the news. Hainer’s mother was older and the dog was so gentle with her and children and people with special needs, she explained. She trained him and got Ben certified as a therapy dog and they worked together with a group in Greenville.
Seeing the happiness it brings, owning Ben ignited her passion for training therapy dogs, and she became determined to get another four-legged companion, so she adopted a Cocker Spaniel named Murphy from Angels for Animals.
She and Murphy did therapy work together for four years, and he was certified through Therapy Dogs International. After he was gone, she had a drought for four or five months without owning a dog, but she realized she was miserable without one, she said.
She located Duncan online and adopted him from the Columbus Cocker Spaniel Rescue in Columbus, Ohio, and he has become like a soul mate to her.
“They put you through the regiment when you adopt,” Hainer said. “They actually came to my house.”
He is trained as an AKC trick title dog, and she takes him places and has taught him a variety of tricks — things dogs normally don’t do. For instance, he can stack toy donuts on a pole, get a toy cup of tea from a microwave and tuck himself into bed.
Duncan and his tricks also have won the hearts of children whenever he visits the West Middlesex Elementary School classes, she said.
“The kids and the staff love him,” Hainer said. “He’s a Canine Good Citizen, and he has been through all of the obedience classes. He has a lot of credentials and he’s worked really hard.”
Hainer, herself, also works hard at being a dog owner out of her passion for the animals. She has become certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs as a tester observer for Lawrence County Comfort Canines, a therapy dog group formed through the Lawrence County Humane Society to train therapists working with dogs.
Hainer is working with Yvonne Eaton-Stull, animal assistant therapy professor at Slippery Rock University, and Scott Baldwin, acting director of Lawrence County Health and Human Services agency, to train therapy dogs in the mental health field through the Human Services Center.
Her work with UPMC Jameson and her taking Duncan there for visits is a highlight for the staff and the patients, but it’s also a highlight for Hainer and Duncan.
Stephanie Kittner, a registered nurse and clinician, said visits from the playful canine have been known to help patients with depression and anxiety and make people more optimistic.
“How can you not be happy after seeing a cute little guy like that?” she commented.