Scottie Tuli and Therapy Dog Friends

12/24/2024

Scottie therapy dog Tuli and I had a lovely visit today with our friends at The Palms at Sebring. It was very festively decorated. We were so happy to spend time with Tuli’s biggest fan- Miss Susie- and with new friends, too. Tuli also enjoyed the elevator ride up the tower to visit some of those friends in their apartments.

12/24/2024

12/10/2024

Pictures from our visit yesterday with The Manor at Lake Jackson. It was such fun to have two therapy dog teams ... we always enjoy the company of fellow ATD therapy dog team Ralph and golden doodle Harley!

12/10/2024

What a fun day we had yesterday visiting our friends at The Manor at Lake Jackson with fellow ATD therapy dog team Ralph and golden doodle Harley!

12/06/2024

Scottie therapy dog Tuli and I participated last evening in the annual Lights of Remembrance ceremony at Good Shepherd Hospice, greeting visitors and providing quiet comfort. This lovely event included a candle ceremony to remember and acknowledge loved ones who have passed and a holiday tree lighting. We were honored to have attended.

11/07/2024

What an exciting therapy dog visit we had today to The Palms at Sebring! We visited old friends- and made many new friends- including two dogs. (One little white poodle, Cade, lives there and we've met before. The other was a handsome French Bulldog just visiting. He was in a stroller, too, because he had short legs. ) We first stopped at Memory Care, then visited a new couple in their apartment. They really liked my visit, and Mama gave them one of my stuffies, too. Then we stopped by in a place Mama called "physical therapy". I was a hit, for sure! Everyone wanted to pet me and to see me model my kilt. We met a former Scottie mama there; she was so happy to see me and told us all about her Scottie babies McAngus and Bonnie. Mama said we will go back and visit her in her room soon. And- can you believe it- there were birds! Yes, birds inside the building! They were in a special room of their own (Mama said it was a "flight cage"). I could hear them chirping and wouldn't leave until Mama let me see them. What a nice visit today- so much joy and so many smiles passed around.

10/30/2024

Mom and I had so much fun today visiting our friends at The Manor (memory care center). We were in the spirit of Halloween. I didn’t know what that is but Mom said I could wear a fun costume and give our friends candy treats. I was all in!! My visiting stroller was all decorated (it even had lights!) and I wore the cutest butterfly wings. My new friend Teddy (he’s learning to be a therapy dog) visited with us. Everyone had so much fun! Enjoy some pictures from our visit. We spread joy and MANY smiles today! ❤️

10/26/2024

Yesterday Mom and I visited Hospice, and then The Manor. We saw many old friends and made new friends, too! Look at the lovely smile on the face of Ms. D- she always wants me to sit with her and gives great pats. I also helped train a new wanna-be therapy dog today. Mom asked me to "show him the ropes" and demo how a great therapy dog behaves. I did! His name is Teddy. He's just a little guy- a two year old apricot color miniature poodle. He's very soft and cuddly, small (only 8 pounds) and such a good boy. We're both going to visit The Manor again next week with a Halloween surprise!

10/18/2024

My pet therapy partner, Scottie Tuli, and I had a heartwarming... and challenging... visit to our local inpatient Hospice House this morning. The patient count was considerably higher than is typical there and, while many of our patients were not alert, we had the joy to interact and try to comfort numerous visitors to those patients. Tuli was, as always, a sweet recipient of the many pets and positive comments they made. Seeing fleeting smiles on the faces of these visitors who were dealing with great stress was so wonderful. And, we spent a lot of time this morning with E., a lovely very senior lady at Hospice for short term respite care. Her face lit up when we came into her room as she immediately recognized Tuli from our prior visit (under similar circumstances) several weeks ago and couldn't contain her excitement being able to talk to and pet her. I was deeply touched when she opened up a small bag of belongings she'd brought with her from home to show me the Scottie stuffie she had selected as her own on our last visit... and told me how much she loved it! We did good work today!

10/16/2024

We are proud to celebrate our CH Anstamm Tulip Takes a Bow CGC THDN THD TKN (pending) being the recipient of the 2024 Dromore West Therapy Dog Award at the recent Scottish Terrier Club of America annual banquet in Pennsylvania! It is so rewarding to have the therapy dog work of this special girl recognized. Thank you Kathleen Dunleavy for sponsoring this annual award for Scotties who have earned dual titles (conformation championship and a therapy dog title) in honor of her Nicole- CH Kriscot's Touched by an Angel THDN. We are so grateful.

09/16/2024

Getting to know you... Sometimes when we meet new friends we are both a little uncertain. I made this new friend today. I was checking her out, and she was checking me out. All it took was about 3 seconds, then I was snuggled up in front of her getting pets! It was such fun!

09/16/2024

Mom and I had a very fun day today at The Manor at Lake Jackson. There's always so many of our friends waiting for us when come to visit there! Here's some pictures from our visit. (Thank you to Activities Director Cynthia for sharing them with us.) I enjoyed the attention from friends old and new, and was sweet to everyone, like always!

09/16/2024

We're home from our Alabama vacation, and back at our therapy dog work. Last week we were busy, busy. We visited three different places! Here I am at Good Shepherd Hospice. We spent a lot of time with a nice lady there who was having a difficult day. She loved petting me as I patiently sat next to her on her bed. (She had a fuzzy doggie of her own, too, but said I was much more fun!) She was in much better spirits at the end of our visit. She asked for our autograph for the journal she is keeping... Mom signed it, and added one of my stickers so she'd have my picture... and the lady picked out a Scottie stuffie to keep. We'll go visit her a couple times next week - she likes our company!

09/11/2024

Never forget. In honor of special service dogs during such a sad time.

09/02/2024

I’m on “vacation” with my Mama, Dad and Scottie brother Jack visiting our wonderful Scottie friends Becky and Ed Jones in Alabama. No therapy dog visits this week - just lots of comfy sleeping spots, a pretty yard to explore - and lots and lots and lots of treats! I’ll be back at work next week. 😊

08/28/2024

What I did on my therapy dog visit today! (8-28-2024): This morning Mama and I visited The Palms at Sebring... it’s a place we've gone to a lot since I earned my therapy dog "wings". I wore my new red plaid dress today and looked spiffy! A special lady (Miss Susie) is always is ready and waiting in the lobby to get the first chance to pet me, then we go to the Memory Care Unit to visit more friends. (There are big calendars posted all around and my visits are listed on them.) The lady "in charge" (Mama says her big title is "Activities Director") has her patients sitting in a circle, and excited to see us. When we come into the room they always sing us our special song, "How much is that doggie in the window?" - a great way to start! (Mama has told me not to worry, though, as I am NOT for sale LOL). We made our way around the room so each lady and gentleman could talk to me and pet me. Some wanted me to sit on their lap, too. Then Mama put me on the floor and pulled out the toys! We ALL love that! I put on a good demonstration of chase, catch, pounce and shake my squeely mice and the fuzzy lobster with the flopping tail. Everyone laughed when I barked at my giggle treat ball when it didn't give out treats fast enough. (Mama said in her next post she'll share what we bring with us in our visiting bag.) We all had fun today and I scored many treats too! Mama said, what could be a better way to start the day... and I agree. (If you would like your Scottie to become a therapy dog get in touch with Mama for information. It's lots of fun, and appreciated so much.)

08/28/2024

Reflections from our therapy dog visit (8-23-2024). One of the places we visited today was Good Shepherd Hospice. We spent a long time in 4 different patient rooms, and created smiles in all of them with the patients and visitors. Hospice is a difficult place to visit. Many of the patients are very, very sick but most are happy to see me come to visit. One patient was especially excited to see me today! This sweet 97 year old lady (who Mom said was there for a week for family respite care) had the biggest smile on her face when we came into her room! She immediately wanted me on her lap for a snuggle and gave me so many pets. I could tell she loved dogs- she knew just how to hold my face in both her hands and scritch behind both my ears at the same time! Heaven! The lady and Mama had a long chat about the dogs the lady had loved in the past, and about her current doggie who was waiting for her to come home. She said he is a little chihuahua kind of dog, about 10 years old- and is much more of a lightweight than me... only 8 pounds big! She told us how she missed him very much, and thanked us for visiting and bringing happiness to her day today. Mama and I left her with one of our Scottie "stuffies" (made by our friend Teresa Klc Bilodeau); she loved it, and hugged and hugged it. She said she'd never met a Scottie before and the stuffie would remind her of me! Every time we make a therapy dog visit Mama's heart is touched.