A Dogs Good Deed
Lately I was reminded of how truly open dogs are and why they are considered man’s best friend. My dog Gordo and I do pet assisted therapy volunteer work. And we work a lot. We visit nine times a month and every three months we tack on another two visits. The convalescent homes are hard places to visit, but there is nothing like hearing people shout out Gordo’s name and then leaning in for a pet or a hug. Even those who can’t speak anymore have a huge grin on their face when they see us coming, They know for sure Gordo will stop by and put his big head on their laps.

We also visit schools and libraries for the program called tales to tails. It is a program for children who need a little help reading or are shy. Gordo lies down and the children come up and read out loud to him one by one. The kids pick out special books they think Gordo will like such as ” once upon a time there was a bad cat named Buster”. The kids may start out haltingly, but in a matter of moments their reading becomes smooth and fluid.

We then visit UCSC during finals week for stressed-out college students. This program is called “Pause 4 Paws”. The turnout is amazing and you can see the stress melt away as Gordo gets lots of tearful hugs and pats. Finals are next week and students are already asking when will the dogs be here.

So I’m sending out a big thank you to those who volunteer their dogs to be petted by the masses and to the dogs who enrich their humans’ life on a daily basis. Our dogs don’t judge us, they don’t care what we look like, how big our house is, how much we paid for car or whether or not we spend our days in a wheel chair or a bed. They love us unconditionally. Thanks to all dogs for being man’s best friend.