Being in the hospital can be scary – especially if you’re a child.
However, in order to ease kids and help them feel more relaxed in a hospital environment, the staff at Southampton Children’s Hospital in the UK came up with the perfect solution: therapy dogs!
Milo, Hattie, Quinn, Jessie, Leo, and Archie are all Golden Retriever therapy dogs who’ve now been dubbed the “dog-tors.” They help the sick kids who are going through medical procedures get through them by easing their fears.
The “dog-tors” also help to show these kids that the procedures they are undergoing aren’t as scary as they look by helping to demonstrate how they’re done.
When the kids see the dogs happily undergoing the medical procedures, it makes them feel better and like they’ll be able to manage the tests too.
Of course, the dogs don’t actually undergo the procedures, but they’re more than happy to pose for videos and pictures in order to show the kids there’s nothing to fear.
The dogs pose for x-rays, they have both their blood pressure and temperature taken, and they get their heart rate measured, as well as their chest listened to.
One of the dogs even rolled over on his back for an echocardiogram in order to show the children that there is nothing scary to it, you just lie back and hold mom’s hand while the nurse places a scanner on your chest.
Besides this, the therapy dogs also do rounds visit the patients’ rooms, giving the children lots of love and cuddles in order to bring out their smiles during times of stress.
Who thinks we need more “dog-tors” in hospitals like this?
