Hamilton proudly wears his Montage Health Foundation Therapy Dog Program vest and his Therapy Dog International identification badge when he serves at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula on Mondays and at Montage's Westland House Rehabilitation and Hospice Facility on Wednesdays.
Procedure at both facilities is that, when checking in, we receive a report that indicates priority patients to visit, before visiting other patients. At CHOMP, we receive additional requests from staff at the nurse's stations, while, at Westland House, a smaller facility, we receive specific notes on the census report about patients in every room. Always, too, we make sure to visit staff who are so grateful to see Hamilton.
Last week, while at CHOMP, one of the nurses told us that she knew this particular patient would love a visit from Hamilton, and, as soon as we entered the room, we could see why. For confidentiality reasons, I cannot go into detail, but I will tell you that this patient started tearing with happiness when seeing Hamilton and became quite verbal while telling us that Rusty was her therapy dog. Hamilton was mesmerized with this robotic dog whose eyes stared directly into his. It even opened its mouth and barked and cocked its head.
Tom and I, too, were quite intrigued with this little electronic dog. We carried on a pleasant conversation with the patient, while Hamilton continued trying to figure out what kind of pup this was. It really was cute for the three of us to watch. As my mother used to say, regarding such an anomaly, "What is this world coming to?"