The Therapy Dog

Chloe the golden retriever is an employee of our hospital, ID badge and all. She lives and works on the adolescent unit, offering kindness to the kids with depression and calming others. She seems to know instinctively when someone is in need of a fuzzy nuzzling or an understanding look. Here she is with Julie, one of our MHTs. We all worked together today. I can tell Chloe, "Come here. You have some work to do," and she will reluctantly get up from her sprawled position in the middle of the activity, amble over to a new child and put him at ease. Chloe took classes to become a registered therapy dog when she was a pup. What a natural she has been! Sweet and sensitive. But when she sees a stranger coming to the front door, she will bark in her deepest and most fiercely protective voice. It that mild-mannered Chloe? She has a few favorite people - the ones who bring her treats - and gets excited when they come in to work. Since she is an employee of the entire hospital system and not just our area, she gets called upon to visit patients in other areas who are sad or lonely or maybe just missing their own dogs. Chloe is about seven years old now, and we can tell she too gets burned out on her job at times. But she has such good work ethic, and duty is always calling. She is probably our most faithful employee.