Service Dogs Spread Holiday Cheer at Children’s Hospital

• The Texas Children’s Hospital partnered with Canine Assistants to provide the perfect service dogs to spread cheer.
• The pups have been spreading good vibes at the hospital since 2016, when the Pawsitive Play Program started.
• Parents were delighted to see their kids smiling as the canine parade graced the halls and their rooms.

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Not everyone is lucky enough to get to spend the holidays at home. Some have to spend it in the hospital, where it can get tough for patients, especially children. Thankfully for the young patients at the Texas Children’s Hospital, the canine parade is here to save the day!

These pups have been spreading holiday cheer since 2016, when the Pawsitive Play Program started.

The hospital partnered with Canine Assistants to provide the perfect service dogs to provide encouragement, comfort, and a sense of normalcy to the kids.

These special pups undergo a year and a half of training to work in a hospital environment before tackling their jobs.

They also get a badge and a lunch break during each workday. They then get to go home with their handler at the end of the day, where they can spend their free time however they like.

According to the children’s hospital, “The animal-assisted therapy dogs provide support to those who may be having trouble coping with a hospital stay, new diagnosis or certain medical procedure.”

“Our dogs work full time alongside our child life specialists and coordinate with the multi-disciplinary team to provide goal-oriented, therapeutic interventions, and emotional support for hospitalized children as well as families and staff,” they continued.

The program started out with just one golden retriever named Elsa. Now, they’ve hired three more: Bailey, Cohen, and Pinto.

Their Christmas parade, which showcased the pups and their handlers all wearing matching plaid pajamas, certainly spread cheer to everyone!

Parents were delighted to see their kids smiling from ear to ear!

Animal-assisted therapy coordinator Katherine (Adair) Galanski shared, “There’s a lot of growth happening in our program. And we’re beyond excited to widen our ability to pawsitively impact more patients and families.”

Source: Inspire More