Dodger loves the attention
Ahead of International Dog Day on 26th August, Karen Gee, a Barts Health volunteer, talks about her therapy dog Dodger and how he helps Barts Health staff and patients de-stress.
“My daughter works for the RSCPA. One day, she came home and told me about a Staffordshire Bull Terrier who had been abandoned as a pup and encouraged me to adopt him. At the time I was on gardening leave and had more time on my hands, so I agreed. That’s how I got Dodger!
“There are a lot of Staffies that need rehoming because people have a poor perception of them. So, when I got Dodger, I decided to do something about this and try and change people’s perceptions. I wrote short stories about Dodger and started doing events with him to educate people about Staffies.
“While I was doing this, I decided to register Dodger to be a pet therapy dog. He has such a lovely temperament and I thought he could really help people. There isn’t any formal training to become a therapy dog, but there are criteria: they have to be a certain age, you have to own them a certain amount of time, and there’s a test that they have to pass.
“In the test, someone touches their ears and tail, lifts their cheek, looks at their teeth and puts their fingers between their claws. The dog must not snatch or bite or become aggressive. They must remain calm all the time, not become over excited or too jumpy, and they can’t react to loud noises. Dodger passed the test first time round. I was so proud.
“Once he was registered as a therapy dog, I started taking Dodger to residential homes across east London where he was a big success. There’s a real shortage of therapy dogs in this area there because a lot of them don’t like going on the tube, so Dodger is very popular and in demand!
“After a bit, I was contacted by someone at The Royal London Hospital and asked to bring Dodger in to meet their A&E staff. I said yes immediately because it sounded really worthwhile, and all my children were born at the hospital. That started my relationship with Barts Health and subsequently, I became a Barts Health volunteer.
“In the hospitals that we visit, we mainly spend time with staff who work in A&E, the intensive care units and the trauma wards. The people who work in these areas have really stressful jobs, so it’s nice for them to have a bit of down time with Dodger to relax and decompress. They get to sit with him, play with him and pet him. And it’s not just these staff – everyone who works in a hospital has stressful days and everyone is welcome to spend time with Dodger, which many do.
“It’s nice when you see people spend some time with him and properly relax for a bit, forgetting about their jobs and having some fun. I feel proud when I see people with him.
“We’ve also been visiting the NHS Covid-19 vaccination centres that Barts Health run – first at ExCeL London and now at The Street in Westfield Stratford. The staff there love him and so do the people getting their jabs. Some people are nervous or have a fear of needles. If Dodger and I are in, he'll go and sit with while they’re having the vaccine and afterwards too. It really calms them and puts them at ease.
"The pandemic has been hard because, even though this is a time that I know staff and patients would benefit from spending time with Dodger, understandably, I can’t bring him to them due to infection prevention control measures.
“But now, as things start to get back to ‘normal’, I’m looking forward to bringing him to the hospitals again. I know Dodger really misses visiting everyone and that people miss him. He does a lot of work on children’s, mental health and dementia wards and he works with people with autism too. They all love it when Dodger comes to visit. With dementia patients, we find that seeing Dodger brings back memories of pets they had when they were younger. It’s so moving to watch. It might be a while before he gets to visit patients again, but I hope we’ll be back there soon.”
“And as for staff, we’re already starting to get back to visiting them in the hospitals. Everyone in the NHS has had such a hard year and I hope that by starting up our visits again, Dodger and I can bring a little bit of joy to their day and let them forget about the stresses of their jobs and the last year, at least for a little while.”
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