[Miabella]

Well, we had Ilsa's first, and probably last, visit as a therapy dog last Friday. She did well for the first 30 minutes or so, and the volunteer coordinator really liked her. However, she started to seem a little stressed after meeting 8-10 patients, panting with a worried look on her face. I told the volunteer coordinator that I thought we should quit for the day. As we walked out of the ward, a guy in a motorized wheel chair with a respirator came up and started patting her clumsily, and she flinched, backed away and barked.

I decided that she is really not therapy dog material. I think that a therapy dog should be unflappable and really love the work. Ilsa enjoys meeting new people, but I think that the cumulative stress of meeting and being handled by so many people in such a short time period was too much for her. She just doesn’t have the nerves for it, I guess. The volunteer coordinator was such a nice lady, and she was glad that I made the call on my own not to push it. She said that many people who come in have blinders on about their dogs, and they don't want to admit it when things just aren't working out.

Oh well, I guess I tried. But this visit tells me that she just isn't cut out for the work. I feel kinda disappointed, but I guess not every dog can be a therapy dog. I think it's also interesting to realize that passing the certification doesn't mean that it's going to work out, because she did great on the TDI test. I think the test would be more useful if it lasted longer, perhaps the length of a real visit.