Comments for Pet V.I.P. - Tucson, AZ

Comment on Pet V.I.P of Tucson, AZ by Sondra Shelby

Sondra Shelby — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 01:16:55 +0000

David — My Pomeranian and I visit the Tucson Heart Hospital. I am able to put PIXI up on the beds and patients stick fingers in all his furr. PIXI does no tricks. The patients are transient so I never see same one twice unless I go more than once per week. I am out of town frequently so this is a good venue for us. Our visits are not anticipated as they would be in a Nursing Home. Also, PIXI would be great at the Childrens ward, but my temperament would not be able to take the sick kids. The Contact at Heart Hospital is Ginny Bonner, the Chaplain. Phone 520-696-2339. and you can tell her I sent you.

Comment on Pet V.I.P of Tucson, AZ by david

david — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:20:15 +0000

Anyone have recommendstions for a new VIP team. Mijo is a Toy Poodle, who is particularly good with being picked up/loved, but doesn’t do tricks

Comment on Visits by louielove

louielove — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:32:03 +0000

Louie the white poodle went on his first visit! We went to an assisted living facility on the east side of town & Louie met with elder folks. He was SOOOOO excited!

So – we go in & we met with several of the residents in the front lobby area. After meeting each of them & allowing them to pet him, we then went on an excursion around the facility to meet with the residents who were other parts of the facility.

We ended up going to the tv room where a woman was sitting on the couch, watching tv. So I went up to her with Louie and asked if she would like to meet Louie. She smiled & said yes and then began to pet Louie. She started talking about pets she used to have and how cute Louie was, etc. So – the activities director was with me and as we said goodbye and walked away the activities director was in shock.

She told me that this woman never talks, in fact… the director was thinking that maybe she couldn’t talk – as she has never heard this woman utter a word. And then she smiled & said, “This stuff really works!”

So – to make a long story short – Louie did his work for the day! And of course I rewarded him with love & kisses & treats!

Comment on Pet V.I.P of Tucson, AZ by Lynne Brant

Lynne Brant — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 11:35:16 +0000

Recently we recertified 8 Pet VIP teams; congratulations to all of them for two full years of service as Pet VIPs, and here’s to two more years. Everyone please remember to turn in your hours ASAP, please, to the new volunteer coordinator at HSSA. That’s Peggy Johnston, and she can be reached through email at pjohnston@hssaz.org and yes, you can email her your hours, or continue to send them via snail mail.
Upcoming is the second of two days of temperament evaluations being done on 19 Pet VIP teams. 24 people attended the orientation on June 24, and the 19 teams being evaluated will make up the new class.
Look forward to GRADUATION for this new class on Sunday, August 12, from 4 – 6 p.m. at the CLC. ALL PET VIP teams are invited to attend; food, fun, and playtime for our furry friends. Hope to see you there.

Comment on Pet V.I.P of Tucson, AZ by goodbear

goodbear — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:49:58 +0000

hi everyone!! had a great visit today. everytime we go i get something new out of it. today i was noticing how much the SIBLINGS of the patients get out of it. the children going through long term treatment are so often the focus, and they love the pets, but today i notice how the siblings that just sit and wait while their brother or sister gets more attention really respond to cody bear! he is focused on THEM! and it is so much more fun to sit and pet a dog then to just sit and wait…..and wait…..

this clinic i am going to is great. if anyone wants to start visiting at a facility with kids, please email me at george@wagwebdesign.com

Comment on Pet V.I.P of Tucson, AZ by loladog

loladog — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:35:17 +0000

CALLING ALL THERAPY DOGS – FACILITY IN NEED OF DOG.
I shadowed Magic at UMC again today to see how he interacts with adults, since I had to leave early last time and didn’t get past pediatrics. From my discussion with Magic’s mom, Tricia, I found out some interesting news. The Special Surgeries Unit at UMC (6 North East) needs a therapy dog. What I mean is Magic almost never goes over there because its a whole day’s visit by itself. The patient population is usually older people who are having hip replacement or knee replacement surgery and it would be a great place for somebody who wants to work with older people but maybe doesn’t want to go to a nursing home where you meet the same people again and again. Tricia said that people would line up to visit Magic and would talk and talk about their own dogs. It would be a great place for a dog that is kind of layed back but still young (ie with energy to see many different people and always ready to meet new people). I did not discuss this matter with staff at the Special Surgies unit, but I think it is definitely worth looking into. UMC does require all volenteers to go through training, but its worth it, its a great place to visit.

Comment on News by loladog

loladog — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 17:46:58 +0000

lola.pup.googlepages.com has updates. Photos of Lolas last foster sister , Chloe (who was adopted from the HSSA on Valentine’s Day), Sunday funday, a new diary entry and many of the photos we took together to get one for our VIP badge. There is also a new photo under “Pictures of me and Milo” of Milo (aka Happy Scrappy) not long before he was finally adopted- we cut the volunteers out of the photo for their privacy. Be sure to look up Lola Dog under the blogroll on the right-hand side of the page!

Comment on Visits by loladog

loladog — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 21:03:00 +0000

Lola and I had our first visit to the hospital. It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve worked on visiting skills so she was a bit rusty. Lola wasn’t sure why were at the hospital, so she assumed her normal “can’t relax and be pet now, I’m working” attitude. I overcame this by putting a treat in front of her nose every time somebody pet her and letting her have it after she had been pet for a while. We visited kids and their parents- this time, I would say more parents and siblings got to pet Lola than patients. Many patients were sleeping- but Lola sure cheered up some worried visitors! By the end of the visit Lola was slowly figuring out what it was we came to do at the hospital, but this happened literally as we were leaving the building. On the bright side, Lola was extremely well-behaved and had a GREAT time- even though she was a little confused, she was excited, bright-eyed, happy and extremely proud of herself- I’ve only seen her happier after she successfully ran on new agility equipment for the first time. Now she’s exhausted and cuddling up against me on the couch, but she’s earned a good nap.

Comment on Visits by goodbear

goodbear — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:54:15 +0000

another visit with the kids yesterday. it was WONDERFUL. i wish you could have seen cody laying on the floor, surrounded by kids petting him and kissing his face.

only one staff person thought cody was too big for her patient, but everyone else was psyched to have him there. the staff there is really nice and the kids were soooo cute! we’re going to do two thursdays a month. cody was realllly tired afterwards.

well, i hope some more people will share their stories.
take care!

Comment on Pet V.I.P of Tucson, AZ by Paul & Loy Foran

Paul & Loy Foran — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 18:07:31 +0000

We took our VIP pet on a visit Jan. 24th We took her to the AZ. Cancer Center on Craycroft. It was so fufilling to see the Patients smile and want to hold and pet her. She was excellant and as we left we let her walk out and her tail was up, she was not stressed at all. We are so glad we took the VIP training. Loy