On Dogs and Dying

Michelle A. Rivera

Description

Dogs know when we are feeling down. They love it when we are happy and seeking friendship and fun, and they understand when we are feeling sad and desperate. This book presents a series of real-life tales of the positive effects dogs have had on people at the end of their lives, chronicling the visits by two therapy dogs, Woody and Katie, to patients in a south Florida hospice facility. Through twenty-one stories, infused with humor amidst the sadness, Michelle Rivera, an experienced animal therapist, explores the many ways in which animals can ease human suffering. Her book begins with the deeply personal story of her own mother Katherine's illness and dying appeal to have the company of a dog, and proceeds to tell the stories of patients young and old who the author was inspired to visit with her "hospice hounds." As well as demonstrating many of the techniques of animal therapy, Rivera argues powerfully that not allowing pets in health care facilities is a counterproductive policy that deprives patients of comfort at the time they need it most. Some of the stories were previously published in Hospice Hounds (2001), but the author has substantially expanded her introduction and added an invaluable final section that gives practical tips on training and certifying your dog to be a therapy animal.
Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: What is animal-assisted therapy?

Chapter 2: Bring me a dog…

Chapter 3: Pet therapy partners

Chapter 4: The man who could not eat

Chapter 5: Sato therapy

Chapter 6: A deathbed confession

Chapter 7: Preacher, step aside

Chapter 8: In denial

Chapter 9: Squirrel therapy

Chapter 10: But you cannot hide

Chapter 11: One of a kind

Chapter 12: The white dog in the night

Chapter 13: Alfred and tilly

Chapter 14: RX for pain

Chapter 15: Time to walk the dog

Chapter 16: Hooray for Hollywood

Chapter 17: Peaches and Flo; Where will they go?

Chapter 18: Kids and dogs club

Chapter 19: Therapist to the therapists

Chapter 20: The rehabilitation of Maxine

Chapter 21: Will work for biscuits

Chapter 22: A children’s festival

Chapter 23: Getting started as a partner with your pet

Afterword

Sujets

• Médecine
• Médecine Générale
• Santé et bien-être
• Santé du quotidien
• Pets
• Dogs

Informations

• Publié par: Purdue University Press
• Date de parution: 15 février 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781612495231
• Langue: English

Extrait

On Dogs and Dying
New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond
Alan M. Beck, series editor
On Dogs and Dying
Inspirational Stories from Hospice Hounds
By Michelle A. Rivera
Purdue University Press West Lafayette, Indiana
Copyright 2010 by Purdue University. First printing in ePub and ePDF, 2018.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
ePub ISBN: 978-1-61249-523-1 ePDF ISBN: 978-1-61249-397-8
The Library of Congress has cataloged the earlier paperback version as follows:
Rivera, Michelle A.
  On dogs and dying : inspirational stories from hospice hounds / Michelle A. Rivera.
       p. cm. -- (New directions in the human-animal bond)
  Includes bibliographical references and index.
  ISBN 978-1-55753-560-3
 1. Dogs--Therapeutic use--Florida--Anecdotes. 2. Human-animal relationships--Florida--Anecdotes. 3. Hospice care--Florida--Anecdotes. 4. Death. I. Title.
  RM931.D63R58 2010
  615.8’5158--dc22
2010003613
For Katherine and Sable
Together again, having met on the other side
Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
CHAPTER 1: What is animal-assisted therapy?
CHAPTER 2: Bring me a dog…
CHAPTER 3: Pet therapy partners
CHAPTER 4: The man who could not eat
CHAPTER 5: Sato therapy
CHAPTER 6: A deathbed confession
CHAPTER 7: Preacher, step aside
CHAPTER 8: In denial
CHAPTER 9: Squirrel therapy
CHAPTER 10: But you cannot hide
CHAPTER 11: One of a kind
CHAPTER 12: The white dog in the night
CHAPTER 13: Alfred and Tilly
CHAPTER 14: Rx for pain
CHAPTER 15: Time to walk the dog
CHAPTER 16: Hooray for Hollywood
CHAPTER 17: Peaches and Flo; Where will they go?
CHAPTER 18: Kids and dogs club
CHAPTER 19: Therapist to the therapists
CHAPTER 20: The rehabilitation of Maxine
CHAPTER 21: Will work for biscuits
CHAPTER 22: A children’s festival
CHAPTER 23: Getting started as a partner with your pet
Afterword
Acknowledgments
I am truly appreciative of my husband John for supporting me and enduring my many days and nights away from him so that I could be with my beloved partners, Woody and Katie. If not for his love, I would never have undertaken this project. I also wish to thank Lisa and Michael Berkenblit for sharing their amazing dogs with me, and trusting me to care for their precious canine children as I would my own; Marc Bekoff, who walked this journey with me as a mentor and a friend; my precious companions Tyrone Bob and later, Tabitha. They both stayed by my side the entire time I was writing. I am so grateful to my family, Jay and Penny, Toby and Kelly, and grandchildren Adrienne, Austin, and Alexander; they make me proud and keep me focused. I also want to thank my mentor Alan Beck, who has helped me along the journey by telling me not to give up because, as he reminded me, “this is an important book.” Thanks also to Charles Watkinson and Katherine M. Purple for their dedication and input, and to Randy Lockwood who suggested that Purdue University Press would make a fine home for this new incarnation of the first Hospice Hounds .
FOREWORD
Letting dogs love and heal us
Marc Bekoff
It is indeed a true pleasure to write a foreword for On Dogs and Dying . We should all be in Michelle Rivera’s debt for undertaking this very important, timely, personal, and inspirational project. Personal stories are wonderful means for conveying difficult and personal messages, and they can stimulate each and every one of us to reflect on stories that we can share with others, as well as expand our horizons into worlds that we do not now inhabit but just might in the future.
In November 2000 I met Michelle in a coffee house in Coral Springs, Florida, when visiting my own parents. This up-close-and-personal meeting with Michelle allowed me to see the fire and radiance in her eyes—her deep and selfless conviction that this, a missive based on her very first book, was going to be an important work that would make people think and re-think their interrelationships and interconnectedness with dogs. She is right.
On Dogs and Dying is packed with stories that will calm you, make you dig deeply into your heart and soul, and likely bring tears to your eyes. These tales will pull you out of your own misery and enable you to share in and empathize with others’ misfortunes. Sometimes this is what it takes to make strides in the care of terminally ill people (and the world at large), and, as you will see, dogs (and cats and other animals) are a natural prescription for sharing their goodwill and unconditional love in a hospice, given their long historical and reciprocal association with humans. These animals are safe and non-threatening beings who offer much spirit and deep souls, even to people who previously did not like them or think much about them.
On Dogs and Dying begins with Michelle telling the deeply personal story of her own mother Katherine’s illness and her dying appeal to have the company of a dog. On her deathbed, Katherine pleaded, “I need to see a dog. I need a wagging tail.” Circumstances were such, however, that there was no family dog at the time. Katherine did not live with a dog because she had been living in a senior citizen complex that did not allow dogs. Katherine had moved in with Michelle when she became terminal, but Michelle and her family were also living without a dog because they did not have the time to care properly for a companion animal during their busy days and nights. Eventually, Michelle quit her job to stay home and take care of Katherine so the time was right to bring a dog into their lives. Tyrone joined the family and was there when her mother died, along with Sable, Michelle’s cat. These two loving buddies, two “healers with fur coats,” lay on the bed beside Katherine.
I know of these silly and archaic rules that exclude animals from hospices and housing complexes only too well. Once, while visiting my parents, my father called his friend, Ginger, whose husband had recently died, so that she could show me her new treasure, a teacup poodle, not surprisingly named Tiny, whom she carried inside her shirt! Tiny, whom Ginger pampered and deeply loved and who also pampered and deeply loved Ginger, brought Ginger much joy in the absence of her husband. But, because of the rules of the house imposed by the homeowner’s association, dogs were not allowed on the premises. I can guarantee you that this wonderful small dog was much less of a nuisance than most of Ginger’s human neighbors. Yet Ginger had to move because dogs were banned. What was very interesting to me was that my mother, who had been bitten by a dog when she was young and feared dogs throughout her life, also found Tiny to be a welcome and comforting friend. She actually let Tiny lay on her lap and smiled from ear to ear as Tiny burrowed into her blanket and heart.
Why is this so? Why are dogs such good healers? One answer might be that when we allow dogs into our lives they readily ignite and awaken our senses, spirits, and souls. They, and many other animal beings, offer us raw, naked, unfiltered, and unconditional respect, humility, compassion, trust, and love. They are not social parasites who prey deceitfully and selfishly on our goodwill as some popular writers would want you to believe. Rather, as Michelle and others poignantly point out, dogs are our true friends—with whom we are tightly bonded and involved in a sort of mutual admiration society (for example, see Alan Beck and Aaron Katcher’s book, Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship ).
I hope that On Dogs and Dying is read widely and that its many important messages make a difference for those unfortunate human beings who are suffering in their last days of life, as well as their devoted caretakers who want the best for their beloved friends and family members. Dogs are “intuitive therapists.” They truly want to make us feel better, to heal us, and we are remiss for not allowing them to do so, to be our best friends. We are depriving them of following their natural instincts. I imagine that it is likely that as we allow dogs to do what they do best, comforting us in difficult times, we will discover even additional mutual benefits from their unconditional giving. I feel certain that the give-and-take that characterizes dog-human interactions will blossom into even more meaningful and deep interrelationships. Bless you, Michelle, for undertaking this project, for being selflessly generous in sharing your own pains, and for a producing a book that will make a difference to so many human beings and their canine companions.
Marc Bekoff is Professor of Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Bekoff is author or editor of twenty-two books including the Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions, and Strolling with Our Kin: Speaking for and Respecting Voiceless Animals. He and Jane Goodall co-founded Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( www.ethologicalethics.org ) .
Introduction
Michael Berkenblit, D.V.M.
Michael Berkenblit graduated from the University of California in 1986. He is co-owner of Village Animal Clinic, North Palm Beach, Florida with his wife Melissa Degen, DVM ACVIM. He has been actively involved with Delta Society since 1983 when he won a Delta Society scholarship. Dr. Berkenblit also serves on several committees oriented toward educating children about humane animal interactions, especially in bite prevention and avoidance, and he is the Canine Companions for Independence veterinarian in his area. His dogs are the subject matter of this book .
The dogs you will read about in these stories are my kids. I am thankful to and proud of them for being the kind and gentle beings they are, and for being able to translate that kindness and gentleness into an ability to bring comfort to the terminally ill. They are fantastic beings in their ability to adapt to a