Harlan and I did our first "Pets For Life" therapy visit today.

He seemed to enjoy visiting the people, and even let me put reindeer
antlers on him for part of the time.

He did a few tricks (mostly standard obedience stuff, but done with
Harlan flair - since he had an audience). I was worried about him
being too rowdy, but I needn't have. He was very excited, but very
controlled about it. Made him look all alert and cute. "He's got a lot
of pep," one lady told me.

He wasn't bothered with any of the walkers or equipment around. He did
have a curiosity about a sliding window, which we decided might be
because it looked kind of like a drive-thru window. Perhaps he was
expecting cheeseburgers to appear.

Also, he focused more on the people then he did at the test, so that
was good. There was a male client in particular that he seemed to take
a shine to. We visited about a dozen or so folks. Most were sitting in
a common room, and a few we met in the hallways and the private rooms.

This is an altzheimer facility that we were visiting, and these visits
are considered part of their activity therapy (it's beloved that lots
of activity slows down the progress of the disease). Two aides went
through with me, and they carried a rather detailed chart, where they
recorded each clients name, and their reaction to Harlan. There seemed
to be a lot of detail on it, but I didn't look closely. Yeah, I was
curious, but it didn't seem right to pry.

Some folks wanted to look but not touch, some wanted to pet, some
needed help petting, and so on. All of this was written down. I wonder
if anyone will remember Harlan's name next time; I bet that gets
charted as well.

No one wanted to know my name. Big shock.

Some folks were more chatty than others, of course. Most questions
were the same ones you would be asked by anybody; know how old he was,
what his name was, is he a girl or a boy and so on. One question that
was asked a lot that I was not expecting was "Whose dog is this?". Not
sure why that was a concern, if folks were worried about strange dogs
wandering in, or what. Interesting.

Well, I need to go. Mr. Doorknob thinks that I've forgotten that there
are several loaves of pear bread cooling on the stove. He's a good dog
who doesn't counter surf (lucky me, he came that way), but if
something tasty is left out he will keep trying to remind you about it
(usually by running out of the room and then back in really fast, and
then staring at you REALLY HARD -- repeat every 10 minutes as
necessary), in case you just forgot to give a bunch of it to him.

--Terri & Harlan (also, I would like extra butter on my bread please)