Once a month, Ren Ci Nursing Home resident Huei Ah Looi, 77, gets to play with dogs, such as Smoky the cocker spaniel and T-Rex the toy poodle.
These dogs are part of a team of volunteers under a programme known as Healing Paws, by animal welfare charity Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD).
Healing Paws started in 2014, bringing dogs and their human volunteers to people who need comfort from man’s best friend.
Some sessions are conducted over six months, while others are ad hoc visits. In total, Healing Paws has 50 active dog “volunteers” and 117 human volunteers. It has reached out to about 40 organisations and about 800 people.
Nursing home residents with chronic illnesses can feel isolated, said 25-year-old Stasha Wong, a National University of Singapore undergraduate and coordinator of the Healing Paws programme.
“The dogs bring companionship and warmth to the elderly residents. The residents can also work their motor skills by grooming the dogs or playing ‘fetch’ with them.”
In fact, Ren Ci’s programme executive Ding Xin Yi noticed that the nursing home residents were more alert and cheerful during and after the sessions.
A resident who is usually reticent even began speaking up.
“The dogs act as companions to help in recovery and improve medical conditions such as depression, anxiety. They also help in lowering blood pressure. It aids healing and relaxation,” she observed.
In fact, it is not just the elderly that benefit, but volunteers too.
Mr Christopher Kok, 43, who works in sales, said he ended up spending festivals such as Christmas and Mid-Autumn Festival with the elderly residents. He has been volunteering since early last year with his 11-year-old dog Smoky.
“I got to know the residents and make friends with them. They got familiar and comfortable with me, such that they even opened up and shared the stories of their old days. I didn’t expect such return,” he said.
Before becoming a volunteer, Smoky had to pass two tests – a medical examination and a temperament test.
These tests assess a dog’s suitability for volunteering and include seeing if the dog is sociable.
Only about 30 per cent of the canines pass the temperament test each time. Healing Paws holds four recruitment drives a year.
Besides Ren Ci, Healing Paws also takes about five dogs to Boys’ Town in Upper Bukit Timah Road, where they partner seven boys aged 11 to 13 in monthly agility sessions.
The boys act as “handlers” who guide the dogs through an obstacle course of hoops, tunnels and horizontal bars.
“This teaches the boys patience through training the dogs and it also builds their self-confidence,” said Ms Celynn Chang, senior counsellor at Boys’ Town.
“These boys live in our shelter and most have a background of trauma, so this helps in growing their self-esteem.”
Unlike the smaller dogs involved in the Ren Ci visits, the furry “volunteers” at Boys’ Town are larger breeds, such as border collies and labradoodles, a mix between a labrador and a poodle.
The sessions, like the ones at Ren Ci, are held once a month for a period of six months. They help both the boys and the dogs to burn off their excess energy and build rapport with each other.
Said volunteer June Ho, a 40-year-old lawyer and owner of Meatball, a labrador: “Words can’t express how happy I am to see Meatball running with the kids. They ask if I will be there again next month, and it is so moving.
“If we can make a difference in one boy’s life, we would totally do our best for it.”
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Source: The Straits Times, 30 November 2017