West Newsmagazine 5-24-17

52 I COVER STORY I
May 24, 2017
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
@WESTNEWSMAG
WESTNEWSMAGAZINE.COM
All in a day’s work
At Ranken Jordan, one special therapist proves to be a true champ
By BRIAN FLINCHPAUGH
Murphy doesn’t mind if his ears are
pulled, hair is mussed or if the hugs around
his neck are bit tight – it’s all in a day’s
work.
Truth is, he likes getting physical and he
dishes out some affection of his own with
a lick to the face or hand. The three-yearold
yellow Labrador retriever works with
children facing serious medical challenges
– and sometimes with their parents – at
Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital
in Maryland Heights. His job might be
likened to someone who can hold hands,
although in his case, holding out a paw
may be more appropriate.
Lauri Tanner, the chief executive officer
for Ranken Jordan, said Murphy proves his
worth every day.
He arrived last June after completing his
training with CHAMP Assistance Dogs,
Inc., a nonprofit organization, whose
executive director, Pam Budke, also is
chairman of the board for the West County
Chamber of Commerce. CHAMP stands
for Canine Helpers Allow More Possibilities
and Murphy is living up to the name.
He works with Tanner and other hospital
personnel to use his special skills as a facility
dog – doling out comfort, assistance
and hope.
Nola Ewers, director of CHAMP’s assistance
dog program, said the trick is finding
the right dogs – ones that have an “impeccable
temperament” and “take everything
in stride.”
Ewers said several breeders in Columbia,
Missouri, provide some of the organization’s
dogs, who are initially trained and
socialized by University of Missouri students.
Murphy and a Ranken Jordan patient
The dogs have to be taught largely by
voice command and the training program
involves building a bond with the dog. The
idea is getting the dog to want to work for
you, Ewers said. The training is, kept light
and engaging.
As the dogs get older, they are evaluated
to see what might be their best role. Dogs
that work in a public setting have to be
curious but confident to the point that nothing
phases them. Promising animals get
intense and advanced training from female
inmates at the Women’s Eastern Reception,
Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia,
Missouri. The training starts at about
eight weeks and can take several years.
Finding the right handler to take over the
dog is almost as important as finding the
right dog. The handler has to show a tremendous
amount of consistency in his or
her command of the animal. Some people
are good with animals, but not as handlers,
Ewers said. Others simply have the knack.
Worth the wait
Ewers said her group is getting more
requests for facility, and other, dogs.
“People see the success, they see the
impact the dogs have on children, not
just in the courthouse, but with dogs like
Murphy at Ranken Jordan,” she said.
The hospital waited four years for a
facility dog. Murphy, who was born three
years ago on New Year’s Eve, was worth
the wait.
“He’s very motivating and he just brightens
everyone’s day,” Tanner said. Murphy
isn’t rattled easily, he likes people and is
affectionate and approachable.
His day can include two hours of petting
therapy for children. He helps with enforcing
the hospital’s treatment model of getting
young patients
out of bed and physically
active. That
can include helping
teenagers who are
depressed or in pain
to get out of bed, or
prompting kids to
work harder during
physical therapy
sessions by simply
being playful around
them.
“They [the kids]
are just having fun,
not realizing it’s real therapy,”
Tanner said.
Murphy is a calming
presence for kids with high
blood pressure and those
who have seizures; with
others, he’s happy to take
walks; and he plays catch
with kids who need help
with their motor skills and
strength.
“He’ll play catch for eight
solid hours if you want to,”
said Tanner. But how long
Murphy really can work is
a bit of an unknown. “The
dog will kind of let people
know if it’s tired or doesn’t
want to work,” Ewer said.
“Eventually [Murphy
may] get to the point where
he would rather lay on the
couch just like the rest of
us and not want to go to
work,” said Tanner, who is
Murphy’s chief handler and
takes him home every night.
“Right now, he’ll tear out of
the house each morning.”
Tanner said some of Murphy’s work
deals with special cases. For instance, a
therapist might allow Murphy to snuggle
with a child who has difficulty maintaining
body temperature. Reportedly, he’s warmer
than blankets.
He’s also helpful in healing the mind.
“He’s such an emotional support,”
Tanner said. An example is Murphy’s work
with a recent out-of-town patient, the only
survivor of an auto accident that killed his
parents.
“Six years old from Nashville, he sustained
a cervical spine injury, but really
what he sustained worse than that was
a broken heart. So we had to try to heal
his heart first before we could begin the
therapy of helping him through his cervical
spine injury and get him up walking and
doing all the things a 6-year-old should do.
And [Murphy] was his big buddy,” said
Tanner.
“The greatest compensation I could ever
have as a CEO is that I have the pleasure
of living with Murphy,” said Tanner. “You
should hear the kids squeal when I’m
walking out at the end of the night. No one
asks me how I am anymore. They talk to
Lauri Tanner with Murphy and a Ranken Jordan patient
Murphy or they ask, ‘Where is Murphy?’
He is the king.”
Even the construction workers building
an addition to the hospital know Murphy,
she said.
“We call him the chief puppy officer, so
he’s an executive,” Tanner said. “He participates
in meetings and sleeps through
them or tries to play through them. He’s
just added such a dynamic element to our
organization.”
Having a dog like Murphy around an
office, whether to work with kids or not, is
not a bad idea.
“It’s a positive part of your day, he’s such
a self-esteem booster, he makes you feel
good about yourself,” Tanner said.
Ranken Jordan received Murphy at no
cost, although ongoing care and support are
provided by the organization that receives
them usually, through a grant. Each facility
dog would cost about $15,000 to $24,000
to train if all expenses were calculated,
Ewer said.
CHAMP is one of several local not-forprofit
organizations that train dogs for a
variety of tasks. It has placed 69 dogs since
1998.