Maria K. Warren Success Story

A Grand Little Fella

Submitted by Maria K. Warren, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Sam, my Jack Russell Terrier, and I recently started our volunteer assignment with Pet Partners. We had our first visiting session at a Manor Care home with Jean Doherty and her lovely Golden Retriever Banreen. My grand little fella did a pretty good job; and, as expected, his tail never once stopped wagging!

It is a difficult to have a dog whose size is in between "pocket" and large. He's too small to be visible to someone in a hospital bed and too short to be petted by someone in a wheelchair. Sam does not enjoy being picked up much. Besides, he's too heavy for that!

 

I determined it was best to pick up Sam’s paws and place them on the side/front of the wheelchair seats; that helped a bit. Where I could, I sat and placed him on my lap, getting as close to the person as I could. Of course, Sam would be happy to hop into a person’s lap; but that's not always possible or a good idea. We are currently working on some techniques to make better physical contact, expecting that this little fella will soon overcome this limitation.