Dog, Owner Bring Patients Doses of Cheer

As Zoe walked down the hospital corridor, the edges of her mouth forming a smile, staff members poked their heads out of doorways, shouting out greetings. Although short in stature, the 5-year-old met each request for attention with confidence, eager to begin her afternoon job sitting on patients’ laps and looking cute.

Zoe, a squash-faced pug, and her owner, Patti Londres, are volunteers with Create-A-Smile, an animal-assisted therapy program that sends the duo to hospitals and women’s shelters around the Valley to bring cheer, compassion and a welcome distraction to people who need it.

“This is not about money or donating things,” Londres, 43, said. “It’s not about material things at all. It’s spiritual. And there’s a huge payoff for doing this work.”

Happily for Londres and those she visits, the payoff is immediate.

On a recent outing to a Valley hospital’s psychiatric floor, Zoe, her curly tail wagging, headed for an empty sitting room, where two books about dogs lay on sofa tables.

Suddenly a patient, whose therapist described as isolated and uncommunicative in weeks past, cautiously entered the room and approached the cuddly canine. The close contact spurred the timid patient to begin talking animatedly about her own dog, expressing more emotion than she had in a long time, the therapist said.

Intensive-care nurses and other hospital personnel are not shy about their enthusiasm for animal-assisted therapy programs, which use guinea pigs, cats, dogs, birds and other pets that reportedly help patients’ recovery process.

“Pet therapy is great,” said Debra Froling, a North Hollywood Medical Center movement therapist. “Patients get depressed, but the minute they hold a rabbit or a dog on their laps, they open up. You can see the bond forming. It stimulates trust.”

Londres, a Studio City resident who runs her own public relations company, became interested in pet-assisted therapy 1 1/2 years ago after reading about the People-Animal Connection program at UCLA.

Created in 1994 by a critical-care nurse at the Westwood medical center, the program started with only one dog for patient visits. Now the program boasts 30 teams of pets and owners that visit 20 hospital wards, including intensive-care units.

After passing an evaluation process to see if Zoe could handle the sometimes effusive attention of patients, Londres and her dog underwent physical screenings and began training for their volunteer jobs.

“Patti has been very effective,” said Julia Lundeberg, team coordinator at UCLA. “The [pet] visits make patients happier, calmer and they feel more loved and less anxious.”

Because Londres’ work keeps her in the Valley most of the time, the married businesswoman recently signed up with Create-A-Smile, which has programs that allow Londres and Zoe to visit hospitals closer to home.

Adjusting her T-shirt, which read “Pawsitive Healing” in bold letters, Londres recalled how Zoe had once profoundly affected an intensive-care heart patient who was unable to talk, but still able to smile. The patient’s husband, brushing away tears, talked to the dog for his happy wife.

“My dog has special qualities that I thought were worth sharing with other people,” Londres said. “I feel good because I can help lift people’s spirits. I can see the tangible benefits.”

Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please send suggestions on prospective candidates to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to valley@latimes.com