Time for a house call!
Dressed up and ready to go, the human–canine teams enter the lounge looking very professional. The doggie doctors have been making regular visits to the Jen-Ai facility for nearly six months. “Their every visit brings smiles and laughter to our seniors,” say Xu Jinling, the foundation’s director.
The dogs begin their performance by sitting up, lying down, and balancing treats on their noses. Exceptionally calm and obedient, they quickly overcome their audience’s fear of being bitten. As the seniors begin to feel more at ease, the pups’ owners encourage them to feed, brush, and play with the dogs.
“Uncle Chen,” a 93-year-old resident, loves brushing Bank and even lets Baobao nap on his lap.
“Uncle Gao,” who is hard of hearing and extremely reticent, wants to feed Winner a bit of apple. Encouraged by Zheng, he struggles to articulate a quiet “O,” then slowly manages a “K.” After practicing a few times, he’s able to give Winner an “OK” command. Winner responds by sitting quietly, waiting, then taking the bit of apple Gao offers, bringing a smile to the old man’s face.
The “house calls” are scheduled to last one hour, but “patients” always want them to go on a bit longer. This is especially true of the children they see, who, once they overcome their wariness, want to run the dogs through all of their tricks themselves. TCSDA’s trainer Zheng Shaowen says that doggie doctors have to pay close attention to commands when on house calls. That’s tiring for them, and they run out of steam after about an hour. “When the visits are over and they climb back into the car, they’re beat. Once they’re back at home, they take a good, long nap.”
Off to make some house calls! From left to right: Abi, a longhaired dachshund; Xiao’ao, a poodle; Didi, a smooth dachshund; and Bank, a golden retriever.