This week, as we were leaving the adult day health center, the staff gave me and the Doods the most thoughtful presents. For each of the dogs there was a big Christmas stocking filled with stuffed animals. Since they can tear a toy apart in a matter of minutes, they can never have too many.
ELBEE I’m a dog. That’s what we do.
For me, there was this silver necklace with a delicate paw print and an open 
heart plus a matching bracelet. It couldn’t have been a more perfect gift. It also made me think about the intangible gifts we had received that morning.
We had such positive interactions with so many of the “regulars” like the physically handicapped young man in the motorized wheelchair. He can barely move but still laughs as Gus and Elbee take treats that I place between his fingers.
An autistic man who had been anxiously awaiting to meet the dogs on our last visit, immediately came over to see them again. He seemed even more comfortable this time but I had no idea how much it really meant to him. One of the staff heard him telling a therapist that he loved them.
Then Gus had a special moment with another participant 
that I’ve written about before. He suffers from severe depression and only smiles when he sees the dogs. He always asks me to have Elbee “say his prayers” because he feels they’re just for him. After talking to me for a few minutes he sat down on the couch, looking very sad.
Suddenly, Gus, who has never even tried to get on any of the furniture, jumped up next to him. Then he put his little paw on the man’s arm as if to hold it. I know that’s his move to get attention but at the time it really seemed like a loving gesture.
A short time later, another man came walking over as he saw me handing the Doods’ UCLA trading cards to a woman sitting alone at one of the long tables. He took a well-worn wallet out of his pocket to show me that he always carries the cards that I had given to him in the past. What touched me even more was that he had written the date across the top. I gave him those cards in 2016!
In this season of giving, when people are frantic to find that “special” present, I realized that a simple visit from a therapy dog is one of the most precious gifts. For anyone who has had the privilege of holding their own therapy dog on a leash, it is priceless.
