Charles Schulz once remarked that happiness is a
warm puppy. The Medford Commission for Persons with Disabilities recently
began putting this advice into practice. Several Medford seniors have received a visit from Chess, a 9 year-old Brittany Spaniel specially trained as a "therapy dog." Chess has visited two senior care facilities in the city this summer, and response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"There are studies that suggest that older people live a bit longer; or don't have as many problems if they have a pet to look after," said Diane McLeod, director of the Office of Human Diversity. "We put out a letter to the various facilities in Medford saying this program was available, and a number of places called and asked (for) the dog. All of them have asked her to come back, so it was very successful."
The "therapy dog" is a new service the commission is introducing in the community. McLeod admitted some people have a hard time taking the idea seriously at first, but it's hard to argue with results.
"(Chess) was received very well here," said Christine Battisti, director of recreation at the Courtyard Nursig Care Center. "Pet therapy just brings out more feelings and emotions in the patients: happiness and smiling, they really reach out and touch the dog. It's an amazing sight to see sometimes, how a pet can make an individual react, the effect they can have on someone who's feeling sad."
Chess may not have a Ph.D., but therapy dogs are trained for the work they do, said owner Laura Gilber, a member of the commission, a physical rehabilitation nurse, and a former Medford resident. She adopted Chess from a shelter when he was three.
Gilbert initially considered training Chess as a working dog for the disabled, abandoning the idea when she learned the strain tends to age dogs prematurely.
But Chess' disposition, she said, made him a strong candidate for therapy work.
"They really have to be social. You have to have a dog that is socially interactive with people, not just other dogs," said Gilbert. "They have to be versatile and be able to lay down and behave themselves in a crowded and excited room, and not go snitching cup-cakes off the end table."
Gilbert said she wasn't surprised at Chess' reception.
"The biggest plus that Chess has is he's cute. My golden retriever is 100 pounds, and that is a pretty intimidatig size, especially if you don't really know if you like dogs," said Gilbert. "Chess is 40 or 45 pounds, so the size isn't intimidating, he has freckles, and he's just kind of cute."
Chess is one of several successes reported by the commission this year, which celebrated its second annual Disability Awareness Awards in late June, recognizing the efforts of Gina Hughes and police officer Matthew Insogna.
"it recognizes anyone who does anything in the community to the service of disability issues. This year we had Gina Huges, who runs the Alzheimer center, because she does a lot of different work around the community on those issues," said McLeod. "We gave an award to (Insogna) because of what he has done for the enforcement issue. He's one who has been really good about enforcing the law against parking in handicap spaces, and making sure people get the message not to do it again. He's one we can always count on with the enforcement issue."
The commission also worked with Tufts University this year, bringing in several students to assist with the "Kids on the Block" puppet shows performed in local schools to raise young students awareness of disability issues.
"We have people lean the script and then take the dolls and go perform for the younger grades. It kind of puts the kids at ease. A lot of times younger children worry "can I catch that?" or they don't understand, so they shy away from someone in their class. So that's what these puppets are for," said McLeod. "This past year we got students from Tufts to do the program. When they were done Tufts purchased a new doll for the commisssion."
The commission has been so busy raising public awareness of disability issues, it hasn't had enought time to promote itself. Gilbert joked the commission may be one of the most overlooked, only vaguely appreciated entities in Medford's city government.
The average understanding, she suggested, stopped at some hazy ideas about a group of people who drive around looking for non-conforming wheelchair ramps, and keep tabs on whether local building projects will comply with some arcane requirement from the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"The whole thing is I don't think people are aware of the disability commission. It seems like people in Medford are totally unaware," said Gilbert. "It's hard to get people aware of the commisssion and all the work it has done behind the scenes."
In addition to cheering up elderly citizens, Gilbert hopes that Chess may change that perception.
"It's a lot, educating the community and bringing awareness to these issues," she said. "That's one of the things I try to do with this dog."