New therapy dog continues in her brother’s footsteps
The employees at Family Hospice and Palliative Care in Mt. Lebanon are looking forward to a very special reunion next month.
That’s when Ivan, former full-time therapy dog at the nonprofit facility, will come back for his first visit since moving to Florida almost a year ago.
But, it will be more than just a reunion between co-workers. Ivan will also meet his sister for the very first time.
Isabelle took Ivan’s place as the facility’s one-and-only full-time therapy dog. The 6-year-old golden retriever replaced her brother when Rafael Sciullo, former Family Hospice president and CEO, accepted a job with another nonprofit hospice in Clearwater, Fla., and took the dog with him.
“Originally, the management team here at Family Hospice wanted to wait until we had a new CEO in place before getting a new therapy dog,” said Family Hospice Marketing & Public Relations Manager Greg Jena. “But, we were in touch with New Hope Assistance Dogs, where Ivan came from, and they said, ‘We have Isabelle, and she’s Ivan’s sister.’ We just felt that the planets aligned and this was meant to be.”
New Hope Assistance Dogs Inc. is a nonprofit organization located in Warren, Pa., which provides highly skilled mobility, autism-related, hearing and therapy dogs for people with disabilities or serious illness.
Family Hospice Director of Administrative Services Dave Fiumara drove the two hours to Warren, along with Nick Petti, manager of Volunteer Services, to pick up Isabelle, and Fiumara and his family offered to be her caregivers. The dog comes to work each weekday with Fiumara and returns home with him at the end of the day. “Isabelle is really attached to Dave,” Jena said, adding that whenever the dog is not on duty she can be found visiting with Fiumara in his office.
Unlike her brother, Isabelle had prior work experience before coming to Family Hospice. “Her history is with a family with an autistic child,” Jena explained, adding that when the family’s circumstances changed, the dog became available.
To help Isabelle adjust to the quieter, more solemn environment of a hospice facility, the management team assigned volunteer handlers, including Marilyn Hans, Cathy Jones, Mary Good and Lois Keating, to the dog.
Hans, who has two golden retrievers of her own, one of which is a therapy dog, spends two days a week with Isabelle, visiting with patients and families who need comfort.
While Ivan and Isabelle aren’t from the same litter, they do share the same parents and are similar in many ways. “They’re both very calm, both very gentle,” said Jena. But, he added, “She’s a little more talkative than Ivan.” While Ivan never uttered a peep, Isabelle will sometimes let out a bark when she gets excited. He said the staff has really bonded with their new, four-legged co-worker and look forward to visits and walks with the dog.
Hans agrees. “Besides making the patients and their families happy, Isabelle makes the workers happy. She’s bonded with them, and it’s a great, calming thing.”
Families are allowed to bring their pets to the facility to visit a patient. But, Jena said, “That’s the kind of thing that’s not always on top of their mind, so that’s what makes this a nice feature. Isabelle not only provides companionship for the patients, she does for the family members as well.”
Hans said that hospice has opened up a whole new world of how therapy dogs can help comfort people. “It’s a very sad situation here sometimes, and I think she really brings people happiness. The family is sitting around, often with a very sick family member, and to be able to pet a dog calms them and helps them. A dog brings joy into a sad situation.”
Throughout the day, Hans goes from room to room with Isabelle, asking patients or families if they would like a visit from the dog. “We go into the room and she greets everyone, but she usually finds one person and becomes their friend.” She added that the family is usually so excited to see Isabelle that the dog goes to them first. “Then if the patient is well enough and has their hand out she’ll go over and comfort them.”
Hans spoke of a family whose father had been at the facility for four days and was very sick. “The kids and grandson all have dogs and love dogs. They were telling me about their dogs and it took their minds off of a very sad, very stressful situation.
Jena added that Isabelle lights up when she sees kids. “I guess that’s a reflection of her background. She really seems to bond with kids when they’re here.” He said the dog provides a positive distraction. “She provides a reason to smile when they’re here when otherwise maybe they wouldn’t have a reason to smile.”
Jena said Isabelle is a compliment to the overall care the organization provides. “Family Hospice is very proud to have Isabelle as part of the team because she provides as much comfort as our staff can at times.”
Barbara Ivanko, who replaced Sciullo as president and CEO of Family Hospice, agreed. “Having a full-time therapy dog enhances our mission of providing compassionate care. Once Family Hospice set the precedent with Ivan, we felt it only natural to continue having a full-time therapy dog presence.”
While Isabelle is the only full-time therapy dog at Family Hospice, the organization has an additional 27 other therapy dogs that, along with volunteers, visit patients in their homes or in skilled nursing facilities across a nine-county service area in the region.
“When I come in in the mornings, they’re just so much love in this building,” remarked Hans. “At the end of life, it’s a beautiful place to come, or if someone just needs care to get better through their pain, there’s so much love here, and Izzy … she’s like the icing on the cake.”