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Tripp the Animal Assisted Therapy Dog

Please Note: The dog in the accompanying photograph is the subject of the story, but any persons shown are probably not those in the story.

Photograph of Tripp dog

One Saturday morning Tripp and I were visiting a place we had never been before. It was a house for residents experiencing various stages of Alzheimer’s. There were residents there in the living room awaiting our visit. After visiting for awhile I asked one of the staff if there were any other residents. She replied yes but he did not like to leave his room and did not embrace visitors or company. I replied that Tripp and I would be more than happy to go to his room. Reluctantly she said yes you can give it a try. When entering the room she said you have a visitor he gruffly said “who is it”? She said it’s a dog. Just then he turned his head to see Tripp standing there next to the bed. We talked for a bit and I said we would be back another time to see him again. He said “that would be good”. The staff remarked at how they could not believe that he actually seemed to welcome the visit. Our dogs cross all bridges and barriers even with some of the most difficult people. Tripp and I will make sure we visit him again on our next visit. You never know when a special dog like Tripp will make someone’s day.