LF_011719

4 | January 17, 2019 | The lake forest leader NEWS
LakeForestLeader.com
Dog therapy group makes visit to North Shore schools, hospitals
Erin Yarnall
Contributing Editor
When Marilyn Putz
started the Lincolnshire
Animal Hospital Dog
Therapy Group 35 years
ago, there was nothing
else like it.
The group, which began
with members of the
hospital staff and their
pets, has now expanded
into a large group that
makes 100 annual visits
to hospitals, schools and
anywhere they can be of
help in Northern Illinois,
including Safe Haven, a
school in Lake Bluff; Abbott
House, a care facility
in Highland Park and
Aperion Care, a nursing
home in Highwood.
“We sort of broke the
ice with our group,” Putz,
the founder of the group
and an employee at the
Lincolnshire Animal Hospital
said.
Putz, a dog breeder
of Irish setters, said the
idea came to her to start
the group after reading a
magazine article about the
therapeutic impact of contact
with animals.
After starting the initially
small group, they
received a bit of publicity,
and Putz said she soon
had numerous dog owners
telling her that their dogs
would be “perfect” to visit
schools and hospitals as a
therapy dog.
“There were a million
people thinking their
dogs were the most perfect
dogs in the world and
would be great at therapy,”
Putz said. “Some
were and some weren’t. It
took me a couple of years
to establish some kind of
criteria for this group.”
To help determine which
dogs will be used as therapy
dogs, Putz developed
a two-part test. In the first
Lennon bonds with an Irish Setter rescue named Ryder.
Jane Coen (left) tells Dan (middle) and Cody (right)
about her dog, Loosey, who was the star of the show.
part, she tests for obedience
and following commands.
The second part of
the test is temperamental.
“They have to ignore
food that’s on the floor,
they have to walk by food
that’s on the floor and ignore
it at their owner’s
command,” Putz said.
“They have to be comfortable
with a whole bunch
of people petting them at
the same time, things like
that.”
Once the dogs pass
Putz’s test, they’re brought
to some of the 13 locations
throughout Northern
Illinois that the Lincolnshire
Animal Hospital
Dog Therapy Group visits,
where Putz says the people
they visit “light up.”
Melina (left), a student at Safe Haven School in Lake Bluff, pets Jane Coen’s (right)
Golden Retriever Loosey, during a visit from the Lincolnshire Animal Hospital Dog
Therapy Group. Photos by Alyssa Groh/22nd Century Media
Student Zoe (left) holds Sheri Fine’s dog while talking about their shared love of dogs.
“It’s amazing to see the
reactions of people,” Putz
said.
People who volunteer
their dogs to participate
in the events must sign up
for at least ten a year, but
Putz said many sign up for
more than that.
In December, the group
went to schools including
Notre Dame College Prep
in Niles and the University
of Illinois at Chicago
to provide stress relief for
students preparing for final
exams.
Putz believes the service
the therapy dogs provide
to the people they
visit is needed “in certain
populations.”
She says that during
each visit, she sees the results
her group is having
through “big smiles” and
“laughter.”
“We see people, in
nursing homes especially,
coming out of their
shells,” Putz said. “[When
we arrive] we see them
sitting there just staring
at their laps, and then we
bring out this dog and
they just light up and they
start talking about the
dogs they used to have.”
According to Putz, the
happiness that attendees
at the events receive from
petting and playing with
the dogs can contribute to
relaxation, and an alleviation
in anxiety.
“They go into this room
where we meet with these
long, drawn-out faces and
they come out smiling,”
Putz said. “It’s just amazing
to see it.”