"Inside the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gerry Gregg, wearing an A's baseball cap and a U.S. Marine Corps shirt, leans down to give rubs and scratches to Murphy, a fluffy golden retriever who is part of a pet-therapy team from San Jose nonprofit Furry Friends. How are you doing? Gregg, 60, croons to Murphy, who looks adoringly into his eyes. Yeah, I know, Gregg tells the dog."
"Just the tactile pleasure of touching a pet eases stress and boosts mood, says Lindsay Conner, a recreational therapist at the VA. Contact with visiting animals often strikes deep chords in patients, Conner adds. It connects them to nostalgic memories, she says, happy childhood memories of owning pets. The dogs from Furry Friends appear to understand which patients require their services most, Conner says. You'll see the dogs moving towards different people, she says."
Gerry Gregg, a 60-year-old Marines veteran and retired floral designer who lost his sight, receives affection from Murphy, a fluffy golden retriever from nonprofit Furry Friends, during a month-long course at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center. Furry Friends volunteers bring pet-therapy teams to the VA to offer unconditional love and tactile comfort. Touching a pet eases stress and boosts mood, and contact with visiting animals often reconnects patients to nostalgic childhood memories of owning pets. The dogs frequently seek out patients who need extra support, moving toward people in distress. Furry Friends, established in 1983, has more than 300 volunteers.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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