Michele & Huey

“I suffer with chronic pain and going there and helping to brighten others lives, helps me to temporarily forget about my pain too.”

Name: Michele Leishman and Huey

Type of dog: Corgi

Location: New South Wales

Visits: Hostel; Retirement village

Volunteering: 2 years

Why: I love sharing my intelligent dog with others.  It brings an enormous amount of joy to people, and brightens their day even if only for 1 hour.

Enjoys most: Seeing the happy faces when Huey does his tricks or plays with the toys.  It triggers lots of memories in the older folk of their loved animals and stimulates their memory each time we call.

Dog enjoys:  Basically everything…meeting people, but he loves doing his tricks because he gets lots of treats.

Reaction: Generally they love him because he is not a common dog, and they are amazed at the number of tricks he does and how well he does them.

Experiences: Only a fortnight ago, an elderly fellow who has dementia, took the lead with me and took my dog for a “walk” down the corridor.  He was convinced he was taking his dog for a walk, so we all played along, including Huey, even though we walked at a snail’s pace he was so patient and obliging, I’m convinced he knew someone else was leading him and this person was frail, so he walked very slowly.

It is extremely rewarding and a privilege to be able to share my extraordinary dog with others in such a way.  I suffer with chronic pain and going there and helping to brighten others lives, helps me to temporarily forget about my pain too.