Edward Hospital’s Animal Assisted Therapy Volunteer Services is more than just petting dogs. It is also about reaching out to the patient, and the reactions range from tears to big smiles. (Edward Hospital photo)

Every other Sunday, Bolingbrook resident Lisa Pinnello brings one of her two English Mastiffs, Hossa or Mira to Edward Hospital to participate in its Animal Assisted Therapy Volunteer Program.

Both Mastiffs don’t especially enjoy the bath that is required of all dogs before they come to the hospital, but Pinnello said the dogs know it means a visit to the hospital the next day which they truly enjoy.

“It is the routine. The d

Dogs get a bath, their teeth brushed and their nails clipped,” said Pinnello, who has participated in the program for 11 years with four different English Mastiffs.

For some patients, it is also is about having a human visitor as well as their furry companion.

“We may be the only visitor the patient gets that day,” Pinnello said.

She said it isn’t only the patients who appreciate the animals. Doctors and nurses have gotten to know all of her dogs and some even get on the floor to visit with them.

Wheaton resident Bob Garcia who began bringing his dog, a two-year-old coonhound beagle mix, Lincoln, last November, said, “When I put on the powder blue coat, he knows we are going to the hospital.”

Once there, Garcia said, Lincoln is often asked to take photos with family members who are also visiting patients.  “He just knows he is getting his photo taken and he loves it.”

Each day, four or five dogs and their handlers visit different areas of Edward Hospital, with some exceptions, said Cynthia Brooks, the head of the Animal Assisted Therapy  Volunteer Services.  Intensive care, critical care, adult ER, and mother and baby areas are off limits.

Brooks, who still brings her dogs in every other Thursday as a volunteer, said patients’ reactions can vary when seeing the therapy dogs from smiles to tears.  “Sometimes they miss their dog at home so much there are a few tears.”

She added, “It is so much more than just petting the dog. It is also about reaching out to the patient and connecting on another level—not just about dogs.”

But the animal assisted therapy doesn’t end at the hospital.

Java, a black lab mix who visits both inpatients and patients participating in group therapy at Edward Hospital’s Linden Oaks Behavioral Health, has come a long way from a kill shelter in Western Michigan.

A stray, malnourished puppy, Java was brought to the shelter by police officers.  Unsuccessfully placed in two separate homes due to her high energy, Java was returned to the shelter both times.

Bill Miklosz who was traveling through Michigan when he drove by a fundraiser for the shelter made a quick decision to stop with no attention of adopting another dog.

Once he spotted Java, he wanted to adopt her and after convincing his wife, they brought her home to Downers Grove.

Visiting the patients at Linden Oaks, Miklosz said, “This is where Java shines.  I tell her story and patients relate.”

The Animal Assisted Therapy Volunteer Services at Edward Hospital currently is seeking new dogs and owners to join the program.  Brooks stressed, “We are in an acute hospital setting, so the dog’s temperament and obedience has to be right on.”

“We want to make sure it is a good job for the dogs,” she added.

For the last four years, Nancy Quigley, a Naperville resident and owner of Quigley’s Irish Pub, has brought her six-year-old Golden Retriever Charlie Bear to comfort patients at Edward Hospital.

“It is his job and he loves it,” she said.

He has a special cowboy collar that he wears at Edward and when he puts in on, he knows he is going to the hospital, Quigley said.

Quigley also is training her other Golden Retriever, Flynn, so that he too can be certified to be a therapy dog.

To be approved as a therapy dog, it is required that dogs be able to:

*  Sit and lie down with only one command;

*  Stay until you call him or her with only one command;

*  Walk loosely on a leash and not pull, even when excited;

*  Be friendly with other dogs;

*  Be able to perform commands without treats as a reward.

In addition, Brooks said the program required dogs to be at least one year old, up-to-date on vaccinations, enjoy people, not bark or whine too much, and suggests the owner and animal complete a group obedience class.

Human owners are also required to go through a hospital orientation, she said.

Once accepted into the program, the dogs and their owners are required to attend a two-day orientation where they go through different scenarios the dogs may experience in the hospital.

For more information, call Brooks at (630) 527-7335, or email cbrooks@edward.org.