Stanley’s second pet visit station at UCLA Medical Center was very special. Not so much because he’s grown into the job, but because of the illustrious company he was keeping.
STANLEY What does illustrious mean?
ELBEE You don’t want to know.
First there was Blue Moon, a miniature horse who does the monthly visit stations 
in the peace garden outside of the lobby. Adorable and smart, Blue Moon was in this year’s nationally televised Tournament of Roses Parade.
When Stanley was still a puppy we went to the Gentle Barn, an amazing animal sanctuary. He was very taken with the horses and even nuzzled a blind one named Hiro. Apparently he blocked all of that from memory. When he saw Blue Moon he was baffled. What was she? A dog? A horse?
Initially he was a little hesitant. Then he moved in closer and decided she was okay to play with so he went for the puppy “bounce.” To her credit, Blue Moon was extremely patient even though I’m sure she thought he was ridiculous.
Then we headed over to the patio on the other side of the hospital where we joined a husky named Izzy and her person Melissa. Izzy has the most beautiful blue eyes. If we combined Izzy’s eyes with Stanley’s long eyelashes, they’d have a cosmetics contract sewn up.
Izzy was recently voted America’s most popular pet on Good Morning America, so Stanley was in very good company. Although Stanley doesn’t have her credentials, the two of them were a huge hit. I lost count of how many people going in and out of the hospital stopped to pet them and take photos.
I wonder if Stanley was blocking me on purpose.
ELBEE Yes he was.
As so often happens amidst all of the dog festivity, I ended up in a serious and touching conversation. An older man approached and jokingly said that he’d like to pet Stanley but was afraid he’d want to steal him for his son.
He confided that his adult son had severe psychological issues. The man often felt that a dog would be of help. Coincidentally, I had recently read an article about organizations that were training psychiatric service dogs.
They are taught to sense anxiety and depression. They learn to stop someone who is self-harming with cutting. An agoraphobic woman said that her dog enabled her to leave the house. A very young boy with severe problems was able to return to school.
I truly wished that I’d had specifics for the man but when I shared the information I had, he was so appreciative. He was glad to have a direction where he could search for help for his son. He even took a moment to hug Stanley.
