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From left,
Rachal Stapelfeldt, 12, of Jackson, Meggie Wojtowicz, 18, of
West Bend, Wojtowicz’s golden retriever, Walker, and Aurora
employee Stephanie Wojtowicz visit Dr. Jerome Buboltz on their
rounds of trick-or-treating Friday with patients and employees
at Aurora Medical Center in Hartford.
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HARTFORD - For the past three years,
a 5-year-old West Bend resident has been working to lift the spirits
of others.
Walker the golden retriever is taken
around to visit patients and staff of Aurora Medical Center in
Hartford by Stephanie Wojtowicz and her daughter, Meggie, who both
work at AMC.
"We had two dogs before Walker,
but his temperament and the way he is, he fit in perfectly,"
Stephanie Wojtowicz said.
The mother and daughter volunteer
their off-hours at least twice a month for Walker to make his
rounds.
All his hard work led him to be top
dog at a national caregiver convention, earning a Spirit of
Planetree therapy dog award.
The Wojtowiczs said they’re not
sure who gets the most out of the experience, themselves, Walker or
the people he visits.
"It really is rewarding, whether
we take him around here or at the Adult Day Center, Wellington Place
or the schools. There’s not too many things you can do in your
life that make other people happy, so to find one is
wonderful," Stephanie said. "When he walks into a patient’s
room and they’re tired and not feeling good they’ll sit up and
play with him or pet him and it really cheers them up."
Even at the Planetree conference
Walker made a difference.
"When we were there, a woman
asked if it was OK to pet him, and she bent down and hugged him and
started to cry. She said she just found out her dog had cancer, and
said seeing Walker really helped her because when she would get back
her dog wouldn’t be there," Stephanie said.
Seeing the effect her dog can have on
others is well worth the extra time spent away from home, Meggie
said.
"I love to see people’s faces
when he comes in," she said. "One time as we were going
into a patient’s room, I was cautioned that he was not having a
good day at all, and as soon as we walked in, his bad mood
immediately lifted and he started telling me stories about the dogs
he had. It was amazing to see how his visit with my dog would help
him, and make his day a little better."
For many patients, Walker provides
the chance to not think about their health or their pain.
"People will either relate to a
dog they had, or wish they could have had. He’s just there for
them, he’s not going to judge you or look at you in a different
way because you’re sick," Meggie said.
Meggie trained Walker through 4-H,
which she was a part of for eight years, and had him certified
through Therapy Dog International, where his training is ongoing.
"He has to know basic obedience
- sitting and staying and being OK with strangers and with loud
noises and has to leave food on the ground, and has to be able to
approach people in wheelchairs," she said.
Beyond his training, both Stephanie
and Meggie said Walker just seems to instinctively know what people
need.
"What’s really amazing is how
he approaches different people. If he walks into a room where a
patient is more mobile, he walks in prancing, and if a patient is
not as mobile he comes in with a different demeanor. He can sense
it," Stephanie said. "He gets his key from the people. He
walks in and is very focused. This is his job. He backs up from IV
poles and stays away from cords. He just intuitively knows what to
do."
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