| Cole, Albany Medical Center |
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Like many of his human counterparts, Cole, a Cardigan Welsh Corgi, changed careers in mid-life.  Cole, Albany Medical Center In March 2007, after retiring from a successful career in the show ring at the age of four, Cole moved from an adjoining county to live with his current owner Elisabeth Grace, LCSW in Old Chatham, NY, where he began his training as a therapy dog. His mellow personality (as his previous owner said, "There is never a bad day in his world") is clearly suited to this role, which he fulfills in several ways. Two days each week, he accompanies Elisabeth, a clinical social worker, to her private practice in Albany, NY, where he has his own office under her desk. He emerges to meet and greet her clients, both young and elderly, interacting with each to the extent that both desire. He seems to understand who most needs a kiss and a snuggle, and who, after ntroductions, prefers him to keep his distance. At other times, Cole pays regular visits to several floors at Albany Medical Center, where his arrival at the bedside of elderly patients often prompts happy reminiscences of long-ago pets from men and women whose lives are now constricted by age and illness. At a local middle school and the library's after-school program Cole listens to kids read stories. Soon, it is hoped, he will become involved with a program for the developmentally disabled. And finally, on two of the three occasions on which he has been boarded briefly at a local kennel, Cole has been seen to offer companionship and comfort to a nervous or high strung dog-- he's been described as a therapy dog for dogs. Submitted by: Elisabeth Grace, LCSW Old Chatham, NY |
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