Wildrose Service Companions Provide Peace Of Mind For Hermitage Gardens Residents

On a day of remembrance, Widgeon and Red provided residents’ blissful reflection on their former furry friends and the companionship they once provided. Widgeon, originally from Ireland, and Red, originally from Scotland, have hunted, trained, trekked and traveled with the Wildrose crew throughout their career. Red is still an active gundog in addition to therapy work. Widgeon, being the older of the two, has retired from being a gundog to being a therapy dog.

Numerous residents haven’t had face-to-face contact with canines of any kind in months, maybe even years. Simply petting Widgeon and Red provided residents with a sense of comfort and nostalgia. The residents welcomed Widgeon and Red with open arms. After mere minutes of bonding with the therapy dogs, one could see the positive impact both Widgeon and Red had made.

Resident Joan Lucey said, “I think everybody would love to see the dogs a couple of times a month for a visit because I miss having a dog.”

The benefits therapy dogs have on senior citizens is undeniable. 

“There are many occasions when they need something different than human interaction; and in this case, it’s canine interaction to help entertain them and give them something different to think about while we’re there,” Scott Wilson of Wildrose said. “We recognize the need in our community to provide support for people in all kinds of stressful situations. Some of those could be in nursing homes, some of those could be in rehab units, some of those could just be young children that might be stressed about reading or speaking in public; all of these things are relaxed with a good companion dog.” 

Hunter Mixon is an intern for HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at hvmixon@go.olemiss.edu. 

In collaboration with Savannah Ward.