Yes, the dog-tor is in

Jill Robinson, the founder of the Dr. Dog Program in Asia, was in Manila for a night recently. “I wanted to bring my Labrador Retriever to a hospital to make sick kids happy,” said Jill Robinson, when asked how she started the Dr. Dog program. “There was only one hospital in Hong Kong that gave me the chance to do it.” Jill related that it was the head nurse of the Hong Kong hospital who gave her an hour, in an open lot in the hospital, to spend with paraplegic kids.

When the first kid was brought out, he was bedridden; Jill’s Lab immediately approached the kid and put its two paws on the child. “The smile on the kid’s face I cannot describe,” said Jill.” It was on that day that I knew that a dog- assisted therapy program was born.” That was in the early ‘80s.

In late 1997, Jill came to the Philippines and met up with Nita Lichauco, Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) president, to get the Dr. Dog program started here.

In late 1997 the first PAWS Dr. Dog was named. He was Pakko, a German Shepherd. At the time Pakko was since eight years old — he has already gone to doggie heaven. Today, a little over 10 years later, PAWS has a total of 12 accredited Doctor Dogs. They are Dr. Stitch, a Pug, owned by Jose Badelles; Dr. Una a black Labrador, owned by Popi Laudico; Dr. Boozer a Pug, owned by Sharon Say; Dr. Bacchus a Mini-Schnauzer, owned by Marla Nicandro; Dr. Cody, a Pomeranian, owned by Carol Donato; Dr. Charlie, a Cocker Spaniel, owned by Marga Carpio; Dr. Kohler, a Mini Schnauzer, owned by Marga Carpio; Dr. Diesel, a Doberman, owned by Maui Drilon; Dr. Loki, a mongrel-Dachshund mix, owned by Maui Drilon; Dr. Adonis, an Aspin (native dog, rescued from dog meat trade) owned by Rhea Oropilla; Dr. Tiopian Aspin, owned by Aeroin Dayao and Dr. Marrie, an Aspin, owned by Joyce Rivera.

The motto of Doctor Dog is “Love is the best medicine” and the idea behind the program is to provide emotional upliftment to patients confined in hospitals, which studies show contributes greatly to faster recovery periods, or a better attitude towards the medical care that one gets. Since 1998, the Philippine Doctor Dogs have already brought joy to hundreds of sick patients, mostly children in more than 20 institutions — among them are Tahanang Walang Hagdan, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, Philippine Cerebral Palsy Institute, Kythe Foundation and the Philippine General Hospital.

 PAWS is grateful to the hospitals that allow them to bring the Dr. Dogs to cheer up the kids. Although there are not a lot of hospitals that do, because they say that the dogs may bring illness to the kids.

Talk about misinformation. If there is one illness that dogs may bring to humans, it is rabies. This is the reason that responsible dog-owners have their canine companions vaccinated against rabies yearly.

Of course, all the accredited Dr. Dogs of PAWS are rabies-free.

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How does one know if his or her dog is Dr. Dog-capable? “There are tests which we run them through,” said Jill.  “A requirement is the dog is neutered/spayed and that it passes all the tests. These tests largely determine the temperament of the dog.” Next week, Jill talks more about the Dr. Dog program and what the Animals Asia Foundation is doing.

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Pose for PAWS will be at Bonifacio High Street this weekend. Bring your doggies, get their photos taken and make a generous donation to the PAWS shelter.

The animals will love you for it — and they will be happier this Christmas season, too.