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LINDA CUMMINS
Multimedia' "
lcummins@i
Every mor
and Counseling Center of
“ UNC As|eviU4 ^Sponsors ther
apy sessions, but they are not
with your ordinary therapists.
The positive atmosphere and
friendship dog therapy offers
can reduce anxiety, reports the
Alliance of Therapy Dogs.
“‘Oh, I need thds. Oh, I’m in
the middle of exams arid I miss
the dogs. Oh, give me a kiss,’”
Noel Thurner said, repeating
the comments she hears as
owner,and handler of therapy
dogs Sapphire and Parker. “A
lot ol people curne in feeling
stressed and they need that dis
traction.”
Sapphire, a three-year-old
dog, has been doing pet therapy
for tvvo years and is complete
ly al home in the library lobby.
Bryanna While. i sophomore
at counting student, re. .dies out
t.) pet him
“1 i.ome here iver\ time. I
Used to lia\e a dog at home. I
lose animals, espe*.lally dogs."
White isaid “Tliey really just
make me happy I like being
around them.”
Claire and Jim Waller, o\\ n-
ers of Brodie, are stationed a
few feet away to greet the con
stant ebb and flow of visitors
seeking contact.
“We hear them say
things like, ‘I just had a calcu
lus exam. I need to pet some
thing,”’ Waller said.
Brodie, a four-year-old bea-
PHOTO BY TIM HAYES
gle mix who svris rescued from
Birff Wolf at eight weeks
old, sits calmly waiting for the
next hand to reach out to him.
“Within a year, we knew
Brodie would make a good
therapy dog,” Claire Waller
said. “He doesn’t bark. He
stays right with you.”
Therapy dogs need good
manners around both people
and other dogs, said Thurner.
“They can’t be reactive w iih
other dogs,” Thum.i said.
“They have to be able Ui rider
ate a lot of noisC'. distraclion.s
and have a real '.olid lounda
tion and temperament
.\I1 therapy dogs rniist lirsi
pass obedience class and then
take training with a certified
organi/ation. such as PAW'S fori
People or the .Alliance of Ihcr-
apy Dogs
Since his gr.uluatioti. Bfo
die went on to aehieve a sort of
superstar sutus in his job. visit
ing hospn.es abtMit !6 limes jicr
monih m .uldtlion to the Jnld
development center at .Mission
Hospital.
'He ha.s vlilteieni empatJiv
levels With till children at the
development center, he's le-
ally active. He cun sense the
kids aren’t sick and can play,”
Claire Waller said. “But at the
hospice, he can sense when
he is with someone close to
death and he’ll snuggle up real
close.”
At under 50 pounds, Brodie
is allowed up on hospital beds
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