King Pup's NYC Blog Dog

Now don’t get me wrong, I think bringing dogs into hospitals to cheer up sick patients is an excellent idea — so put your paws together for Zoya, Penny, Crackerjax and Romeo, the latest additions to the thiriving pet therapy scene at Basset Hospital, Utica.

However, a couple of things don’t sit right with me.

1. How come it’s OK for dogs to skip around the sterile medical environment of a hospital and nobody bats an eyelid, yet if I so much as slip a whisker over the threshold of Subway Sandwiches I get chased straight out by a guy with a broom?
2. When was the last time you heard of a scheme to get humans to make therapeutic visits to sick animals at the vet’s office?

This last point is worth dwelling on. When I was recovering after my enforced emasculation procedure a couple of years ago, they had me stuck in a crate with a dusty old blanket that smelled of Dachshunds and lighting so dim I could hardly see my Sudoku puzzles. Let me tell you, I felt pretty dysphoric — but where was my human therapy volunteer? A brisk tickle under the chin, a bit of baby talk and a Pup-Peroni would have done wonders for my post-spayal depression, alas none was forthcoming.

I tell ya, I could not wait to get back into the swing of things with my King Pup dog walker. Those heroes really know how to lift a neutered dog’s spirits.

Filed under: Dog Health by Bob