My name is Benson and I am a facility dog at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. Being a facility dog means that I am owned by the hospital and they cover all my expenses. I have a family that I live with when I am not working. My family has an 11 year old boy. I love to go to school to pick him up. I have special permission to go inside and greet all the kids. They give me lots of hugs! I am very lucky to work at a hospital with a wellness center. I go to VITA one day a week and get a massage from one of the massage therapists. That is one of the highlights of my work week. I have been working at Henry Ford West Bloomfield since October of 2013. Everyone thinks I am really cute. They love to have their picture taken with me. :0) I was featured in the Henry Ford Health System’s Annual Giving Campaign Video with my buddy Henry, the original facility dog at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. We explained the importance of giving and gave a special plug for the Facility Dog fund at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. Henry and I were on the cover of the hospital’s pet therapy calendar for 2015. I hope the humans sell lots of calendars so that we can add more facility dogs. I am only two and, at times, I still act like a puppy. I am very smart and sometimes I can trick my handlers into giving me extra Cheerios. :0) I make everyone smile and feel happy even though some of the people I visit are sick. When asked about memorable experiences in my career, I like to tell a couple of stories. I visited a woman who was afraid of dogs. She got up her nerve and started to pet my sweet little head. After a moment, she had a huge smile on her face and acted as though a big wall had come crumbling down. She said her children had wanted a dog and she had told them no. She said that she had been bitten by a dog and was very afraid of them until she met me. I believe her intent was to let them have a dog after meeting me. I was doing my rounds and the daughter of a patient invited me into her room. I noticed the patient had a little teddy bear tucked into her arm and that her daughter had been crying. She said they were trying to get her mom into hospice... Anyway, as we got to the side of the bed (her mother truly was non-responsive) she took her mother’s hand and put it on my head and said, “Look, Mom, a dog with soft fur has come to see you.” Immediately the patient began petting my head – although she did not open her eyes or say a word. The daughter was almost in shock and was snapping all kinds of pictures of me at her mother’s side, when I began licking (“kissing”) her mother’s hand, she couldn’t help but take a video of it with her telephone. She was talking to her niece and went on and on what a wonderful dog I am. It was so special to create these memories for the patient’s family.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 11:02:21 +0000
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