Every other Tuesday evening, a little before 7 p.m., Puppy, a Pekingese/Poodle mix, walks Roseanne Baird through the colorful, tiled entryway of the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Puppy then leads Baird down a winding staircase to the flannel dog-print sheets laid out on the common room floor, where the therapy dogs wait to provide something Baird knows well: unconditional love for critically ill patients and their families.
I recently ventured to an unfamiliar veterinary hospital while on vacation with my 11/2-year-old Bichon, Missy. The stereotypical, but too often common, stark white walls and flickering, fluorescent lighting did not make for an enticing wait in the main lobby. I anxiously sat on a firm, wooden bench with Missy in my lap, as if I myself were waiting in a dental office to be called back for a tooth extraction. I was hesitant to pass Missy over to a stranger in such an unwelcoming environment and s... Read More >>
Expect The Unexpected
Every dog owner has had some idea of how they thought it would be; a series of mental snapshots, like a movie dream sequence, that details all the ways a dog will enhance their life and be everything they ever wanted and more. Unfortunately, the reality of dog ownership is often far less rosy and almost always an opportunity to rethink that dream.
Noses to the ground. Noses in the air. Noses in your grocery bags and in your laundry. Dogs have a sense of smell sometimes estimated to be up to 100,000 times stronger than humans. So getting their attention and treating their bodies and minds with aromatherapy seems only natural.
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