Founders of BMC Healing Pups bring "pup love" to unhoused patients
BOSTON - Thursday mornings are special at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. Every week at 11:30, a parade of dogs and owners from Boston Medical Center fills the second-floor atrium, reassembles, and enters a large communal room to spend time with patients. Their very presence changes the energy as if someone has flipped a switch.
"You just forget about why you're here," patient Ann Carolan explains. Ann and the rest of the patients are unhoused. For now, they're staying in BHCHP's respite care center, Barbara McInnis House. Under different circumstances, they would continue their recovery from injury or illness at home. Without a home, they stay here. The BMC Healing Pups visit is a highlight of their week.
Sheryl Katzanek, BMC's Director of Patient Advocacy and Domestic Violence Programs co-founded BMC Healing Pups in 2012. "I'd seen it at a hospital I'd volunteered for and thought it would be a wonderful thing to bring to Boston Medical Center," she said. Her black lab Rylie (from Princeton, MA-based NEADS) was one of the first two dogs in the program. "It's my joy," Sheryl says. Rylie lies by her feet. "It is so humbling to see her and the other dogs in action. All we do is make the introduction. They do the rest."
Rylie and her "O.G." counterpart Maestro retired earlier this year to great fanfare from the rest of the BMC Healing Pups family. The group is unique. While many hospitals offer dog therapy to provide emotional comfort to patients at staff, few are based "in house." BMC staff members own 15 of the program's 17 certified service and assistance dogs. Every Thursday, four or five dogs and their humans cross Albany Street between BMC and BHCHP to the delight of patients eager to share their company.
"The dogs are instant community," Dan Maloney explains. Dan is the Director of Service Programs at BHCHP. "For an isolated population, it's an instant 'in.' They can talk about how much they love the dogs. They can talk about how the dogs are trained... Everybody's always up to talk about a dog."
Opening up about dogs helps patients connect with one another. Many of the patients say they would have a dog of their own if they could. "Often they've had to give up their pets because they live on the street," Sheryl explains. "Some of them have given them up because they want better for their pets and can't give them what they need."
Ann waits every week to see the tiniest dog in the group. Nellie is a sweet chihuahua who always arrives "dressed" in a special outfit. Today she wears a festive dress and, after a walk around the room, falls asleep in Ann's arms. "I just feel so happy inside. And it just makes my mood better."
Ann says these visits fill a void unlike anything else. "Warms my heart," she says quietly. A few chairs away, a patient named Jose pets each dog that passes. He says that someday he will have a dog again. He misses the companionship.
Nick, a tall young man with nerve damage in his wrist, talks lovingly about the 14-year-old shepherd-lab mix he had to put down. The pain is still raw. "He was irreplaceable," he says wistfully. He says the Healing Pups take some of the sadness away. "It brightens your day. It puts you in a whole 'nother world because they're so friendly. It makes you forget what's going on in life-your sickness or your illness. They're just there for you. They're loyal. I just love everything about dogs," Nick said. He says he always feels better after they visit. "Even though I'm not that well right now, this makes me forget about that," he said. "That's what's really cool about them bringing these dogs in here." Asked if he has a favorite, he says that he loves them all.
For the full hour, the room is filled with happy noise; laughter, praise ("Good Boy, Blue!") and the occasional bark for an extra treat. Zhara the Boxer chases a ball. Rylie's drinking water. Sully the Bernese Mountain dog is the showman. To the delight of the entire room, he sits up--with both front paws in the air. Patients cheer and applaud. "They just want to give love and be loved," Sheryl says smiling. "They don't judge. They don't care where you've been or what you've done or how you've gotten to where you are in life. They just want to give some love. I think there's something we can all learn from that. I like to say that the dogs help to humanize us."
The Healing Pups began visiting eight years ago after a BHCHP Nurse Practitioner approached Sheryl at Back Bay Station and asked to pet Rylie. The conversation that followed sparked an idea that now offers patients a weekly break from their struggles. BHCHP staff also stop by to see the dogs. In a stressful hospital environment, sitting on the floor to pet a friendly dog offers employees momentary peace.
BMC Clinical Engineer and Healing Pups co-founder Michael Hurley saw, in the days after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, how much people appreciated the comfort of a canine. His first service dog, a beautiful Boxer named Dexter, was "on the job" just four days when the two explosions sent survivors (and their families) to BMC. "We were all devastated," he remembers. "I asked if there was anything I could do and they said, 'Can you bring the dog in just to be with the families?'" Michael and Dexter visited families, staff and-finally-survivors, every day for two weeks. The gratitude was palpable. They spent time with almost every bombing survivor and many BMC colleagues. "The staff needed love."
Michael's dog now is the "mascot" of BMC's emergency room. He describes the role-and the challenge of getting anywhere on time with a slow-moving, friendly English Bulldog--as Memphis sleeps in the chair next to him. "He can be this chill through all the chaos in the emergency department." A patient passes Memphis, strokes his face and whispers, "Wake up! You're on camera." Memphis barely stirs.
When the hour ends, the dogs are all a little sleepy. The patients seem at peace. Dan Maloney says the visits give patients time to decompress in a way that offers lasting benefits. "A patient that is feeling less stressed, that's had a chance to interact positively with people and with dogs, is a lot more likely to interact productively with their doctor and their nurse," Maloney said. "That leads directly to better health outcomes."