Ruby

by Marilyn

This is Ruby’s story as it was written for her OTD member profile in 2003. Ruby passed away in 2007.

Ruby, my black lab (the one with headlights & sugar lips) and I began our therapy dog work in 1995 when she was just past her first birthday. My nursing background and her unflappability suited us to working in hospitals. Her brother Jet joined the team some years later and works in animal assisted activities visiting in long-term care areas.

Ruby and I do animal assisted therapy, working with occupational therapists, physiotherapists and recreational therapists at acute-care hospitals and chronic-care hospitals.

We work on a weekly basis with patients who have a variety of needs. We help folks with pain management, in palliative care, doing exercises to strengthen limbs after strokes or traumatic brain injuries, and those who have emotional problems such as depression, anxiety or anger-management difficulties.

Ruby is a bundle of energy whose tail wags her whole body when she visits her patients. On her way to familiar rooms she stops for belly rubs, turning turtle on the floor so nursing staff can take a break and have some fun giving her some pats or rubs. They always go their way with a lighter step and a grin. It's her way of giving indirect nursing care to folks in hospital! Although Ruby can enjoy retriever games while patients strengthen their arms, her favorite place is in bed with her patients. She snuggles up alongside them and soaks up the attention like a sponge. Little do people realize that anxiety gives way to ease, that pain seems muted, that loneliness is dissipated, that if breathing is laboured, breaths come more slowly, that cries of distress disappear, memories are stimulated and stories shared as Ruby lies with her “head on her pillow.”

Sometimes she works in busy physio or occupational labs where her obedience training bears fruit as she concentrates on the person she is working with rather than all the other activities in these busy rooms. She is now at ease on whatever apparatus we use to bring her to eye level for folks to do their exercises whether patting or grooming with specially adapted brushes, or throwing exercises.

After joining TDI in 1999, others became interested and we formed a local Chapter, Ottawa Therapy Dogs. I have become the Director & Volunteer Coordinator. It is very fulfilling to help others develop their skills as therapy dog handlers and contribute to our community in the National Capital Area in Canada. Even though folks move away, they remain Members and connected with us through email. We have Members of Ottawa Therapy Dogs in B.C., Quebec and Ontario.

I have been a volunteer in a variety of sectors all my life but therapy dog work has become my passion. Here I have met dedicated volunteers who are pet owners and therapy dog handlers who go well beyond their pet therapy visits contributing to our Chapter and our community.

It is hard to choose a favourite story, but when Ruby was invited to one of her patient's Funeral mass, it was a special honour. Gilles had cerebral palsy and taught Ruby to accept his vocal sounds and his irregular arm motions. She then would wag her way to her special friend and he would accept her kisses with a big grin. Gilles was a Therapy Dog Trainer Extraordinaire.

We dedicate this page to Gilles and his friends at St Vincent's Hospital in Ottawa who have trained my therapy dog extraordinaire, Ruby, and her brother Jet.

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	Ruby by Marilyn This is Ruby’s story as it was written for her OTD member profile in 2003. Ruby passed away in 2007. Ruby, my black lab (the one with headlights & sugar lips) and I began our therapy dog work in 1995 when she was just past her first birthday. My nursing background and her unflappability suited us to working in hospitals. Her brother Jet joined the team some years later and works in animal assisted activities visiting in long-term care areas. Ruby and I do animal assisted therapy, working with occupational therapists, physiotherapists and recreational therapists at acute-care hospitals and chronic-care hospitals. We work on a weekly basis with patients who have a variety of needs. We help folks with pain management, in palliative care, doing exercises to strengthen limbs after strokes or traumatic brain injuries, and those who have emotional problems such as depression, anxiety or anger-management difficulties. Ruby is a bundle of energy whose tail wags her whole body when she visits her patients. On her way to familiar rooms she stops for belly rubs, turning turtle on the floor so nursing staff can take a break and have some fun giving her some pats or rubs. They always go their way with a lighter step and a grin. It's her way of giving indirect nursing care to folks in hospital! Although Ruby can enjoy retriever games while patients strengthen their arms, her favorite place is in bed with her patients. She snuggles up alongside them and soaks up the attention like a sponge. Little do people realize that anxiety gives way to ease, that pain seems muted, that loneliness is dissipated, that if breathing is laboured, breaths come more slowly, that cries of distress disappear, memories are stimulated and stories shared as Ruby lies with her “head on her pillow.” Sometimes she works in busy physio or occupational labs where her obedience training bears fruit as she concentrates on the person she is working with rather than all the other activities in these busy rooms. She is now at ease on whatever apparatus we use to bring her to eye level for folks to do their exercises whether patting or grooming with specially adapted brushes, or throwing exercises. After joining TDI in 1999, others became interested and we formed a local Chapter, Ottawa Therapy Dogs. I have become the Director & Volunteer Coordinator. It is very fulfilling to help others develop their skills as therapy dog handlers and contribute to our community in the National Capital Area in Canada. Even though folks move away, they remain Members and connected with us through email. We have Members of Ottawa Therapy Dogs in B.C., Quebec and Ontario. I have been a volunteer in a variety of sectors all my life but therapy dog work has become my passion. Here I have met dedicated volunteers who are pet owners and therapy dog handlers who go well beyond their pet therapy visits contributing to our Chapter and our community. It is hard to choose a favourite story, but when Ruby was invited to one of her patient's Funeral mass, it was a special honour. Gilles had cerebral palsy and taught Ruby to accept his vocal sounds and his irregular arm motions. She then would wag her way to her special friend and he would accept her kisses with a big grin. Gilles was a Therapy Dog Trainer Extraordinaire. We dedicate this page to Gilles and his friends at St Vincent's Hospital in Ottawa who have trained my therapy dog extraordinaire, Ruby, and her brother Jet.