Michele Pirkle

Since 80-year-old John Hicks broke his hip in December, he's spent three weeks hospitalized on and off at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, Ga., and he hasn't received too many visitors.

But this week, a 15-minute visit with Cira, an 8-year-old Rottweiler, gave him a chance to reminisce about a beloved poodle and get a break from the monotony of bed rest.

"I tell you, an old dog will brighten your day," he said as he scratched Cira's ear from his hospital bed.

After a few minutes of prodding, Cira, a certified therapy dog, finally offered a paw for a handshake.

Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Devon Brooks and her dog, Cira, visit John Hicks, a patient at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, Ga., as part of the hospital's pet therapy program.

"You're a pretty puppy. I wish I had a place to keep her," Mr. Hicks said.

From lessening loneliness and soothing anxiety to even alleviating perceptions of pain, Hamilton Medical Center's new pet therapy program appears to be a hit among patients young and old, said Michele Pirkle, director of guest services for the center.

The pet therapy program has been a labor of love for Ms. Pirkle and follows a chance encounter three years ago. One emergency room patient -- an out-of-town female truck driver -- had a 6-month-old puppy in her truck that had to be cared for at a nearby animal hospital during the patient's hospitalization.

As Ms. Pirkle was bringing the puppy back to its owner upon her discharge, she encountered a elderly patient in a wheelchair.

"He looked so sad and depressed and the minute I came off the elevator with the dog, he opened up his arms and started smiling," she said. "It was in that moment that I thought, 'Dogs make people happy. Why wouldn't we bring them into the hospital?'"

Since then, she's worked to get the needed approvals and finally launched the program in September.

Two stout Rottweilers, Cira and Malley, are, for now, the hospital's only regular canine visitors and are brought in by their owner, Devon Brooks, an engineer in Dalton who visits hospitals a couple times a month with her pets. Both Cira and Malley were certified by Therapy Dogs International, a volunteer group that tests dogs to make sure they have the sound temperament needed for therapy dogs.

But program coordinators say they're looking for more pet owners willing to offer their -- and their dogs' -- time to visits with hospital patients. Especially for children, the presence of an animal can distract from their anxiety over being in the hospital, Ms. Pirkle said.

Pet therapy also has been shown to improve patients' pain. A 2006 study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing compared interviews with the pediatric surgical patients before and after a visit with a therapy dog. Researchers found that children reported significantly less perceived pain after the visit with a dog.

In the substance abuse and behavioral health unit at Hamilton Medical Center, the presence of Cira had a profound affect on a previously unresponsive and isolated patient, a woman who ended up laughing and interacting during an afternoon with the animal, Ms. Pirkle said.

At least for now, only dogs can be part of the pet therapy program. Recently, Ms. Pirkle had to turn down a well-intentioned offer to bring in a pet llama.

"I thought, 'Don't they spit? We had enough trouble with dogs; I don't think spitting llamas are going to get past infection control,'" she said, laughing.

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