After losing his senior dog a week before Christmas, a man from Hendersonville, North Carolina, fell in love with a puppy he found online because he saw “something special” in her. Now the pup is a therapy dog, helping provide comfort to people in hospitals, airports and more.
Victor Weisbeker told Newsweek that in January 2021 he wasn’t doing very well with the COVID-19 pandemic, especially after losing one of his pups, so he went on the Petfinder website and found a little dog named Sukey, which he immediately fell in love with.
“She was 3 months old and was house trained in five days. I saw something special in her when she was a little over 2 years old. She loved attention and seemed to enjoy making others happy. She seemed to know who needed the love,” he said.
Weisbeker contacted the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and started the process of getting Sukey certified, which didn’t take her long.
“I retired in 2016 from the local hospital after 43 years as an OR RN (operating room nurse), so I decided this was the best way to get started. I went through the process of being a volunteer and started taking her there every Tuesday. I walk onto the nursing units and I hear ‘Sukey’s here.’ We also visit patients who are bedridden,” he said.
He continued: “In May 2023 I went through the process of volunteering at the local airport. I was fingerprinted, had FBI background check. Every Friday I’m at the airport walking around the 7 gates comforting stressed out travelers. We also go to the local library and kids read to her while she lays there and have her belly rubbed.”
This month marks two years since Sukey has embarked on this selfless journey where she will have logged 200 visits and over 350 hours including hospital, airport, library and various other locations that request the presence of a therapy dog.
“People remark about how calm she is. I tell them it’s the vest. When I put it on, she knows she’s going somewhere. I say it turns her into Clark Kent. Otherwise, she’s pretty wild running my woods barking at nothing as if she’s warning whatever’s there to look out,” Weisbeker said.
There are currently over 50,000 therapy dogs in America, and each one of them has the special role to provide comfort and support to those in need. Their help goes a long way, as proved by science.
According to a study by Loyola University Health System, animal therapy reduces the need for a patient’s pain medication post-surgery by 28 percent.
All pets, even those who weren’t trained for therapy work, can improve their owner’s quality of life. A 2023 survey by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that 69 percent of owners believe their pets help reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety.
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