Super Walter to the Rescue!
It has been said that not all superheroes wear capes. As the resident therapy dog in training, I found that out firsthand when I had to use my super therapy dog skills to come to the rescue twice in one day.
It started out as an uneventful day. I was in the office with Doc when the first event occurred. I was taking a quick nap while Doc worked on some therapy notes when I started to hear a baby cry in the office next door. Over the course of the next few minutes, it would cry and then stop and then start up again and each time, the baby was sounding a bit more distressed. It was clear that the baby did not want to be part of the counseling session that day. I soon felt it was time to take matters into my own hands, so I got up and went to investigate. Before Doc could stop me, I pushed open the door where the baby was crying, went in and started to lick the bottom of the little boy’s bare feet. Not only did he stop crying, but he started to giggle. Doc apologized profusely for the interruption, but the mother said she was relieved that I had helped. The only problem was that when I left, the baby started to cry again, so I had to go back. At this point they were at the end of the counseling session, so she was not concerned. Doc said she was impressed that I knew what to do. What she didn’t realize is that I was instinctually reacting to sounds of distress and dogs naturally respond with comfort.
The second incident I had to intervene in was only about an hour later. Doc was walking me to the back door to go outside when I heard the cries of some patients that were being terrified by a weird looking object in the conference room where they have group therapy. Since the door was open Doc and I walked in to see what was wrong. Some of the ladies pointed to the floor where a centipede was crawling across the floor toward them. Doc isn’t afraid of bugs, so we went right over and Doc moved the table and said, “go get it Walter!” I then happily approached the bug and ate it, much to the horror of the patients. Bug emergency averted!
Before long, it was time to go home, and I was worn out from a day of not only assisting with patient’s but helping outside of my regular duties. It did make me feel good to help and Doc says that I am showing all the qualities that a good therapy dog has and that she was proud of me today. It just goes to show you that sometimes superhero’s have four paws.