Margaret & Harry

"Harry is just a big live teddy bear that they can cuddle and forget about their cares, if only for a while."

I had just left a demanding job involving a lot of travel and decided to work for myself, so had time to do some community work. I read about the Delta Society in the paper and thought Harry would make the perfect dog for the Therapy Dog program. He’s very happy, well trained and obedient and great with all kinds of people.

Harry and I visit the Royal North Shore Hospital in the morning and the Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick in the afternoons. Harry amazes me, even after 30 patients or more he is happy to jump up for a cuddle on a patient’s bed or sit in the visitors chair ready for a chat and a pat.

When a patient is having lots of painful treatments or is recovering from surgery, Harry is just a big live teddy bear that they can cuddle and forget about their cares, if only for a while.  Often visitors ask me to visit their loved ones who have been given bad news and need a visit from a friendly dog that is just there as a companion, sometimes we stay five minutes; some visits are a lot longer.  Often country patients don't have visitors and love the special company Harry provides.  We keep the conversation light and never about the patient’s illness.

Some days a very sad, I try not to take the sadness home and make the visits fun for the patient and the family. Often some of the children are so brave and special they do leave a little scar on your heart and you do think about them and wonder how they are getting on.

We get such lovely positive feedback from staff, patients and family, people say this is such a great thing…that the volunteers and dogs can visit when people need them the most.