Since my wife is a part time RN in one of our local nursing homes I have been told many times of the positive effects of visiting pet at these facilities. Today I spent an hour with our young pup, Sparky, at a nursing home and can report this same finding personally. Some welcomed the chance to tell pet stories from their own past while they visit with the young newcomer. We heard the story of how a faithful family pet had saved the life of one man several years ago.
At one point we passes a lounge area and the attendant indicated the first lady "loves dogs but is in a bad mood today" and the gentleman next to her is non-communicative. When just I and Sparky returned to lounge later several ladies were happy to pet the newcomer and welcome him. As we passed the non-communicative man he began motioning the pup to come onto his lap. Sparky quickly complied and the man came alive with a singing like mumble that seemed to please the dog's ears. This became the longest one-on-one of our visit as the man also knew that young dogs often love being petted and rubbed. Perhaps the man was replaying the '"dog language" he knew as a child.
The "bad mood" lady brightened immediately upon seeing Sparky and also invited him for a lap visit. Since another pet was due to visit soon we headed to the lobby so that if their first encounter was noisy or rambunctious we would not be in a crowd. A wonderful visit on a very cold day.
