Once a week Maggie and her canine companion Rusty visit the residents at Elmwood Memory Care and Hospital.
Rusty is a 3-year-old golden retriever / poodle cross, with a soft apricot coat and a beautiful disposition.
Many of the resident’s eyes light up when Rusty is near, she is patted and hugged and told what a ‘beautiful girl she is’. The staff also love the weekly visits, and they gently encourage some of the less responsive residents to pat Rusty’s furry coat.
Maggie & Rusty are volunteers for Canine Friends Pet Therapy which is a New Zealand wide network of people who share friendly well-behaved dogs with patients in hospitals and residents in rest homes/hospices.
Canine Friends is 100% run by volunteers and funding goes to expanding the number of places they can visit. Experience, and anecdotal evidence shows that the people they visit are often energised and comforted by visiting dog teams.
