Tonight's picture was taken in June of 2009. Mattie was in the outpatient clinic that day and behind him in a wheelchair was Jessie. Jessie was one of Mattie's outstanding art therapists. They were having a wheelchair race in the clinic, something that Mattie appreciated. Despite the tight space within the clinic, that did not stop the fun from occurring. Which to me speaks to the level of skill of Mattie's art therapists. They always thought outside the box and put the child's best interests FIRST.
Quote of the day: I have found that when you are deeply troubled, there are things you get from the silent devoted companionship of a dog that you can get from no other source. ~ Doris Day
I have no idea what woke me up at 2am this morning, but I was wide awake and couldn't go back to sleep. I got up several times and tried walking around but then decided to turn on the TV. I have a pair of head phones by my nightstand, so I can listen to the TV without Peter hearing it. Fortunately the light of the TV flickering did not seem to bother him last night. I was up for a good two hours. Not really sure why! Around 2:30am, I was sitting in bed watching TV and trying to be quiet, and then all of a sudden I feel a great big thump on the bed. Sunny apparently heard me stirring and came upstairs to find out what my issue was, since it was out of character for me to be up at that hour. Sunny comes on our bed every morning between 4 and 5am. But 2:30am was early even for him.
Typically when Sunny jumps on our bed, he heads to Peter's side, since Peter is the first one up in the morning. Sunny keeps a close bead on Peter. But at 2:30am today, Sunny did not head to Peter, but instead directly to me. He literally sat by my side and put his head right near my hip, and put a paw on my lap. We held hand and paw together for at least thirty minutes, as he was falling back asleep. This was a totally unusual occurrence and a part of me felt that Sunny understood something wasn't right.
I unfortunately do not know much about Sunny's background, as he was rescued from South Carolina. But I am convinced that Sunny was someone's emotional support dog. Not a therapy or service dog, which requires more training, but he shows all the classic signs of being used to providing a human comfort. Desirable characteristics in an emotional support dog are similar to those for therapy dogs, with a few exceptions. Most people seeking a dog for emotional support are looking for a loyal, highly-bonded pet. Ironically therapy dogs are more indiscriminate with their affection. Emotional support dogs are tasked with maintaining the mental well-being of their pet parents, usually through their calming presence and affection.
Sunny has many skills but his top two...... 1) he bonds closely with one owner, and stays by that person's side. In Sunny's case, I am that person. and 2) Sunny craves affection and loves to give it. You can just see his whole demeanor change when you pet him. He absolutely loves it and if dogs could smile, that is Sunny! Mind you I did not pick Sunny because I wanted an emotional support dog, but in essence we are a good match for each other.
1 comment:
Vicki,
I want a Sunny! Thank you for sharing what an insightful dog, Sunny is!
Post a Comment