Maddie passed her therapy dog test in September of last year, but our first visit was today.  When she went for the vet paperwork to get her final certification, her stool sample was positive for coccidia.  The vet said it rarely causes illness in adults and not treating was an acceptable option, but he could not sign off on a clear fecal when, frankly, the fecal wasn't clear.  So I sighed and gave her a round of Albon (it's only a few bucks, but I do hate treating when a dog is not sick.  However, I didn't want to keep retesting til we came up with a clear, either, which he said was another option).

Then the vet's office missed a section of the form and TDI sent it back, so when all was said and done, by the time we got our certification it was the holidays and we were too busy to go.  I was sick in January on the weekend we normally visit, then I was sick the entire month of February and so today was our first chance.

She was so good!  She's actually easier than Jack.  She's light enough at 27 or 28 pounds to pick up and hold so the less mobile patients can pet her, and she'll actually stay in your arms with no fussing; Jack hates to be picked up.  And she'll stand for ages next to a wheelchair, whereas Jack constantly tries to lay down at people's feet and put his chin on the ground.  So even though Jack's foot-lying is the bigger show of trust and affection, the fact is the patients like to pet the dogs, not sit there and stare at them snoozing by their feet.....     

Another thing is that Jack is not fussy about where he poops and when he gets excited, he needs to go.  Once when we were in the dayroom he must have gotten overly excited, because as soon as he hit the hallway he pooped. I shouted "No!" and he stopped mid-squat and waited til we got out, but we still had the embarrassment and cleanup.  Bless him, he seemed to get that in the room with all the people was off-limits, but heck, the entire hallway smells a bit of pee (nursing home; sorry to be blunt but it's true!!) so I guess he figured "Why not?"  He's also a prolific marker so I have to watch him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't lift a leg.  In the house he's great but I don't entirely trust him in strange places.  I may look at getting him a belly band.

Anyway, she was very good.  The patients loved her, and everyone said how pretty and soft she was.  Bless her Corgi heart, but didn't she just instantly know which rooms had food in them and want to go in those!  She found the McDonald's bag, the pudding cup, the glass of soda.  Of course she didn't get to go near any of them, but she did stare at all of them longingly.  A dog-savvy person would have instantly spotted that her eagerness to "visit" was all about the food and not about the people, but the patients don't quite catch the difference and found her charming. 

She did say "Harf" at two big dogs that she didn't care for, so next time I'll be sure not to allow any doggy visits.  Maddie has never actually snapped at a dog with intention to connect, but she will bark and clap her teeth and while the other dogs don't ever seem to mind, some of the owners don't like it so we'll keep her from saying "hello" to the fellow therapy dogs. 

I'm proud of my girl!  Wish I took some pictures but I'm afraid of violating patient privacy and TDI prohibits publishing pics without permission of the patients, which makes sense.   

This is something I wish I had more time to do, as it's very rewarding.  If I ever win the lottery, I plan on taking Jack around to all the schools and Maddie to the nursing homes.    :-)