It’s Thursday morning and it starts off the same as any other morning. I feel my 58 lb fur-kid, Arrow, jump up on the end of the bed and wedge himself between my hubby, David and me. I don’t move as I relish these last moments of blissful sleep. But it doesn’t last long. I then hear a long, mournful sigh from Arrow indicating he’s waited long enough and it’s time to get up.  I reach over to my nightstand; grab my iPhone to check the time. Sure enough, It’s 6:30 sharp … as usual!

Thursday morning starts off the same as any other morning, except on this morning Arrow and I will visit a senior assisted living facility in our hometown just like we have almost every Thursday morning for the past year.

After potty time, morning walk and breakfast we begin our Therapy Dog routine. It starts with a nail trim. This is not Arrow’s favorite activity, but just like with most things, he tolerates it with a resolute calm. Then teeth brushing, which he likes even less, followed by his favorite thing: I get out the brush. I gently mist him all over (except his face) with a homemade concoction of water, lavender oil, and peppermint oil and then I brush him. I brush him forward and back, topside and underneath. He moves and sways in an attempt to get the brush to his favorite, itchy spot at the base of his tail. Once there, his right leg comes up and air-scratches with delight. Then the special “I am a Therapy Dog” tags are placed on the collar. And I put the “Therapy Dog International” I.D. with my name, Arrow’s name, picture of his beautiful face and #114583 around my neck and out the door we go!

The facility is only about a mile away, so if it’s nice outside, we walk there. As we approach the building, I let Arrow sniff around and relieve himself…now we are ready to begin!

As we enter the building, I make Arrow “sit” and  “wait” at each of the two doors we have to go through to get to the lobby.  This helps him get “calm” and focused.  You see, Arrow hasn’t always been the best-behaved dog in public. Some might say he was absolutely naughty. When I first got him, he was VERY leash reactive and would bark loudly and lunge at any new person or dog he saw. He was never aggressive, just very excited. But I never gave up on him. And I continued to take him out to public places, even though I knew he would embarrass me. I worked on his reactivity everywhere we went and eventually he learned if he could be quiet and calm, he would get both treats and the opportunity to greet the person or dog that was making him so excited.

When we enter the lobby, I wash Arrow’s feet with a wipe (this is to help keep him from tracking any “nasties” into the building) give him a drink of water (senior citizen facilities tend to be very warm, so I keep Arrow very hydrated while we are there), have him lie down and stay while I ready myself for the job ahead. I put a bottle of hand sanitizer in my pocket, silence my phone, put Arrow’s brush in my back pocket, release him from his stay and off we go.