UCLA – Me and the Doods.com

Stanley Is a Dodger Dog

While I was writing this post, a rare tropical storm was wreaking havoc in Southern California. Then, when I thought things couldn’t get much crazier, we had a small earthquake! I turned on the news and heard it was a 5.1 quake centered in a neighboring county. One of the reporters said it was a “gentle” quake.

ELBEE Isn’t that an oxymoron

Can you use a Dodger break?

Wednesday afternoon, the UCLA People Animal Connection had a special visit with the team. About a dozen dogs and Blue Moon, the miniature horse, brought animal therapy and love to Dodger Stadium. Like the Taylor Swift event (Henry is a Swifty ) a few weeks ago, it was a bit chaotic but fun.

There was no question which of the Doods to take. For as long as I can remember, Stanley has been a Dodger fan. When the games are on, he flops down on his spot in the family room and watches the tv. He doesn’t take his eyes off the screen.

Gus and Henry just don’t have the same enthusiasm, although when Gus met Clayton Kershaw he stared up at him adoringly.

We greeted staff, then mingled with fans who arrived early. And who can resist a photo with a giant Dodger. Well, actually, Gus had a moment a few years ago but wasn’t quite so comfortable. And Henry met him at the hospital and was terrified.

Even though it was a hot afternoon, we headed out to the warning track for a meet and greet with some of the players. Being a “grandma groupie,” that was such a treat.

ELBEE Unfortunately, one time she shared that information with manager Dave Roberts.

Several Dodgers, including Freddie Freeman and James Outman, were on the field but this photo with superstar Mookie Betts was a highlight for me.

Despite wanting to stay there and take it all in, it was still very warm so I went into the dugout to get Stanley some shade. To my delight, sitting there were former player and now announcer Nomar Garciapara along with sideline reporter Kirsten Watson.

They were both so nice but I want to give a shoutout to Kirsten. She had a small, battery operated fan, and the whole time we were chatting she held it above Stanley to help keep him cool.

Sharing Joy

After a natural disaster like the wildfires in Maui, I feel a bit insensitive writing my regular post. I have great memories of taking our daughters to Lahaina when they were little. It’s hard to believe the town is gone. My prayers are with them.

My hope is that I can offer you some positivity by sharing special moments I’ve had with the Doods. If I can bring you a bit of joy, I’m grateful.

Some interactions are seemingly so simple. In the under twelve neuropsych unit at UCLA, a little boy was clutching a feather as he sat with our group. When I was getting ready to leave with Stanley, he came up to me, handed me the feather and said very quietly, “I want you to have this.” I could tell how much it meant to him.

Walking in the neighborhood with Henry, I passed a house with a man and woman standing in the front yard. Henry, of course, stopped to watch them. The man was happy to see him. The woman, not so much. She admitted she wasn’t a “dog person” and was a bit OCD about dog hair.

Not sure how Henry did it, but within minutes the woman was petting him and saying that he was “mesmerizing.” She began calling for her two teenage sons to come out to meet him. It was love at first sight. They wanted him to move in. As we left, they all, including the mom, were smiling and said “Please, stop by any time.”

In recent weeks, I’ve mentioned bringing Henry and Gus to visit with the high school students in the Turner-UCLA internship. It’s a program for kids who are interested in the health care field. This week I brought Stanley with Gus.

“Aunt” Carol, who handles Gus, and I hid outside of the auditorium with the dogs until everyone was seated. When we walked in with the canine guests, it set the tone for the whole class. It was like a surprise party.

They were all very attentive and had lots of questions when Jen, director of the People Animal connection, showed a video and spoke to them about the human/ animal bond. When it was time to interact with the dogs, it was just so joyous. They even wanted to select the accessories for Gus and Stanley to wear in their group photo.

During Jen’s presentation, a picture of Charley, Elbee and puppy Gus, my first three therapy dogs popped up. Gus is now the senior in an incredibly copacetic pack with Stanley and Henry.

It made me reflect on how much comfort, love and joy they’ve brought me over the years. I wish I could share them with everyone.

Henry Is a Swiftie

How do you do justice to describing an event with about a dozen dogs and Blue Moon, a miniature horse, all dressed up like Taylor Swift? That’s exactly what happened at UCLA on Thursday. It was a way to bring part of her incredibly popular Eras tour to the patients in Mattel Children’s Hospital.

It goes without saying that there was chaos. Picture a makeshift tent on the lawn outside of the hospital cafeteria with all of the dogs getting into costume. There were a lot of sequins and sparkles happening. I noticed a couple sitting nearby watching with very quizzical expressions on their faces.

When I walked over with Henry, the Dood of the day, to say hello to their little boy, they asked me what was going on. After I gave them a brief summary of the day’s events, they started laughing and said, “Now it makes sense.”

I was a bit disappointed that Henry’s outfit didn’t involve sequins, but he was in a plaid flannel shirt that was a perfect replica of the one Taylor was wearing on the cover of her evermore album.

ELBEE She dropped that in so casually as if she knew what she was talking about.

After the dogs and the horse were all dressed, they mingled with the huge crowd that had gathered. Then it was time for the fashion show down a mini red carpet.

A patient who had come downstairs for some fresh air, was very surprised, but delighted, when she saw all of the activity. She said how much better she felt as she posed for photos with the dogs.

Our next stop was on pediatrics. Some of the kids were a little young to be Swifties but their parents weren’t. Neither were the nurses. The animals, in their outfits, were the best dose of medicine!

The email that UCLA Health sent out prior to the Taylor Swift event included a short video taken during COVID. At the time, I was still doing Zoom calls with the dogs instead of in-person visits. On the computer screen, you could see Gus and Stanley sitting quietly next to me.

Henry, then a big goofy puppy, was crawling around my lap. I commented that, “Hopefully, some day he will follow in his big brothers’ paw prints.” How ironic. That’s exactly what he did last week.

Good Morning Gus

**Bringing comfort to Tarzana Hospital**

Gus is truly a people pleaser, particularly when he goes into the hospital. Recently he had a morning that was special even for him. He was making his usual “rounds” with the patients in Resnick Neuropsych at UCLA.

While in our first unit, the kids under twelve, he had a very unexpected challenge. An adorable little boy, of around eight or nine, at first smiled when he saw Gus. Then suddenly, due to Tourette’s syndrome, a difficult neuromuscular disorder, he began yelling and making extremely erratic movements. He calmed down between outbursts.

Gus took it all in stride. He sat very still, tilting his head from side to side as he intently watched the boy. It was almost as if he understood.

Our next stop was the teen unit. One of the boys got so excited when Gus walked in, he almost applauded. On my prior visit with Stanley, the boy had told me that Gus was a star and he couldn’t wait to meet him. Apparently Gus’s reputation had preceded him. He has fans.

ELBEE I can relate.

Hugging Gus, with a huge grin on his face, the teen said he was going home that day. He was just so happy that he hadn’t left before he’d had the chance to meet Gus in person.

My little star had more positive interactions with the young adults. As he sprawled on the floor for belly rubs, he kept his front paw draped over a woman’s leg. She looked over at me in wonder and said, “I think he really likes me.”

Another woman seemed very reserved, but chatted quietly, sharing about her dog, as she sat next to me on the floor petting Gus. It was only as we were leaving the unit that I learned from the therapist that the woman barely leaves her room and never talks to anyone. I am always so grateful when they let me know the impact the dogs are having.

Later in the week, Jen, the director of PAC, said she had a present for me. It was from another one of the boys in the teen unit. He’d told her it was extremely important to him that I receive it. When I opened the envelope and saw this whimsical drawing of Gus, the emotion behind it brought tears to my eyes.

A Positively Positive Walk with Henry

It always seems that when you’re walking a dog, you make a lot more connections with other people. With a dog Henry’s size it’s an adventure because it’s so hard to ignore him.

A woman driving by yelled from her car, “I just want to hug him.” An older man commented on how much Henry had grown since the last time he’d seen him a few months ago. Then he kind of whispered, “Im really a cat person but Henry is a star.”

A jovial woman standing in her driveway waved us over so that she could meet Henry. She and her husband had seen us around the neighborhood. Explaining that her husband was a “jokester,” she shared that whenever they spotted us he’d ask, “Whose hair do you think looks better today, hers or the dog’s?”

ELBEE Definitely Henry’s

As we were heading down the hill from her house, a car started slowly backing up next to us, making me kind of nervous. Then the driver’s window rolled down and the woman behind the wheel said, “I didn’t mean to scare you but my kids wanted to see your dog.” As she lowered the back window, I saw a little girl and her brother smiling and waving to Henry. Of course I had him wave back and play peek-a-boo.

ELBEE She can’t help herself.

Henry spotted a group of workmen and tugged on his leash to go greet them. Since I had heard some Spanish, I told them his name was Enrique. As we were chatting, one of them said to his friend, “se parece a su perro,” she looks like her dog. They were surprised when I started laughing. Of course I told them about being in I Love You Man with Charley, my first look alike dog.

ELBEE She let them think she was an actress.

On a different positive note, Henry worked his first official “gig” at UCLA. He met with a group of high school students interested in careers in the health care field. They were there to learn about the healing power of the human/animal bond. Jen, the manager of PAC gave a great talk and showed a very moving video but the kids’ smiling interactions with Henry said it all.

The Post That Almost Wasn’t

I was about to write a post about why I wasn’t going to write a post this week.

ELBEE That makes no sense whatsoever.

Then the universe sent me a sign. I picked up two packets of Truvia. One read, “Share Your Voice.” The other read, “Challenge yourself.”

ELBEE I don’t think that her idol, the late writer Erma Bombeck, got her inspiration from artificial sweetener.

I also heard someone say that gratitude was the right attitude, so I decided to share a totally random list of positivity, most of it inspired by the Doods.

June gloom has become joyous. It’s the perfect weather for walking the dogs any time of day. Plus, despite the gray skies, the mountains, my happy place, are more beautiful than ever with bursts of color from the flowers.

2. In another added touch, people have been building cairns, stone markers, all along the trails. I have no idea how they do it, but they’re like art installations.

3. The racing bike riders may be my nemeses at times, but thanks to Stanley I had a sweet encounter. Someone heard Stanley’s name and wondered how I’d chosen it. After I shared about my late, wonderful brother Stan, he told me that was his middle name. His buddy was named Larry, just like Stan’s treasured dog.

4. Dressing up the dogs is one of my favorite pastimes. Thanks to the UCLA calendar photo shoot, I had a legitimate reason to put them in costume. Sending photos to my daughters, who think I’m crazy for doing it, makes it that much better. They’ve threatened to report me to PETA but I think they’re kidding.

ELBEE They’re not.

5. A man saw me walking Henry by his house and asked if I took my dogs to the hospital. When I said “yes” he called for his wife to join us. Elbee and Charley had visited her at Tarzana Hospital twelve years ago and she felt they had helped save her life.

6. Last week Gus and three of his canine co-workers were stress busters for UCLA students taking finals. Over a hundred grateful kids stopped by the library to take a break.

7. Talk about random, thanks to the Doods I have become casual friends with several mail carriers in our neighborhood, the nicest group of people. The other day I suggested to one, who parks his truck and walks his route, that he could start a fitness class and let people follow him around.

ELBEE Sadly, she’s not kidding.

8. I was saving the best for last. My grandson Ryan graduated from high school and his sister Samantha graduated from middle school.

Try writing your own list of random positivity. It’ll make your day!

What a Week!

On a quiet dog week, I sometimes have to find inspiration for my writing in random places like the saying on a packet of Truvia or a coyote walking near me in the mountains. My husband, trying to be nice, will say, “That’s good. You made something out of nothing.”

ELBEE Is that a compliment?

He’s still trying to figure out why Elbee comments in my posts.

ELBEE Excuse me. I’m the heart and soul of her blog.

The past several days have definitely not been quiet. The Doods have been busy, working their magic in different places and in different ways.

Last week, for instance, Gus and a few of his People Animal Connection colleagues visited a local high school that has had some recent tragic incidents. A counselor thought that the dogs would be a positive distraction.

They were more than a distraction. They changed the overall mood. It was like a party. There was laughter and there were lots of selfies.

Tuesday was a historic day in Dood world. Newly certified Henry had his first solo “gig.”

ELBEE “Historic” may be a little over the top.

In April, I took Gus to the Wasserman campus of the Motion Picture and Television Fund to cheer up some of the staff. The physical therapy department is closing so morale is low. He was such a hit, they requested another visit.

Henry’s only two and very large so I’ve been holding back, but Gus and Stanley needed a day off. Turns out, I was worried for nothing. He was so sweet and gentle with everyone.

ELBEE Not to mention, he put up with all of the accessories.

As part of nurse appreciation week, we went to the award ceremony for Resnick, our regular neuropsych units at UCLA. What made it particularly nice was having the chance to speak to people outside of the work setting. Several came over to share how much the PAC dogs improve everyone’s day.

Friday, after Gus spent the morning at Tarzana Hospital, I stopped at the Starbucks on the way to the parking lot.

ELBEE She can’t help herself.

As we walked in, a very fussy toddler saw Gus and almost immediately calmed down. His grateful mom brought the little boy over to pet him. He giggled when I had Gus wave and play peekaboo.

The mom was so happy, as we waited in line, she insisted on paying for my order. It was such a lovely gesture to end the week.

A Fabulous Friday

On Friday, the day after Gus visited the Motion Picture Television Fund, he did his regular rounds at Tarzana Hospital.

STANLEY I don’t usually butt in but is she forgetting me? I worked wonders at UCLA.

ELBEE I feel his pain.

As soon as the security guards greeted him at the entrance, Gus was ready to go. There were fewer kids in isolation on pediatrics so he was able to do several individual room visits. The smiles and giggles were a pure gift.

Then we went floor to floor offering stress relief for the appreciative staff, many of whom we’ve known for years. I’ll never get tired of hearing, “This made my day.”

It was after we left the hospital that the fun began. Our first stop was Starbucks. Someone was genius enough to open one in the lobby of the medical building next to the hospital. How convenient that I can walk through there to reach my car.

At first I was hesitant to bring the dogs in, but seeing all of our hospital ID, they couldn’t have been nicer. Now they know Stanley and Gus by name. By the way, their mocha Frappuccino is the perfect pick me up after a busy morning of visits.

ELBEE I used to love their Puppuccinos.

While I was waiting for my order, a woman, seeing Gus, came over to say she’d met me and my dogs before. A few year earlier, she’d been a patient at Tarzana and I’d brought one or two in to see her. She was so sincere and appreciative as she shared how much it meant to her, we were both almost in tears.

Our last stop of the morning was at a pharmacy in a medical building on the other side of the parking lot. The two incredible women who run it are always happy to see the dogs.

As we were leaving, two men in scrubs, whom I later found out were doctors in the building, came running over to see Gus. They were huge dog lovers. One even had a tattoo on his arm of a beloved Schnauzer that had passed away. They were also very entertaining!

One of them sat down on a bench so that he could hold Gus in his lap. Then, not sure if it was his idea or mine, he ended up in Gus’s hat and Harry Potter glasses, a great compliment to Gus in his pink shades. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous morning.

Love Knots

When I was leaving UCLA with Gus on Wednesday, Jen, the director of the People Animal Connection, asked me how the morning went. Without hesitation, I answered “great.”

Considering that we had spent our time in Resnick neuropsych with several groups of patients, some severely disturbed, you might not think that would be the first adjective to jump to mind, but it truly was. The overall mood had lifted as soon as Gus bounced in.

I’m not saying that every interaction was perfect. A few patients sat a little distance away and didn’t initially engage. Still, I’d see them watching and sometimes they’d move closer to our circle on the floor.

Relaxing as they petted Gus, the patients shared stories about their own dogs. There was easy conversation as they rubbed his head. There were lots of smiles and a bit of applause as Gus did a few simple tricks. When I brought out his accessories, the smiles turned to laughter.

When it was time to leave each unit there were gentle good-bye hugs for Gus. More than one patient tried to convince me to leave him there. They promised to take care of him if I’d let him stay.

ELBEE No one asked her to stay.

A big part of successful visits is that the dogs love attention and know how to get it. It’s no secret that I’ve turned them all into total divas.

It begins at the groomer. They have to be bathed more frequently to go into the hospital and have come to regard the groomer as their home away from home. They run in the front door as if it’s a day spa.

Jen, the groomer to my pack of divas, has an assistant who adds that extra special note of affection they crave. It’s her adorable four year old daughter Anne. She has been around the Doods for as long as I can remember and has always been comfortable with them. Now she helps take care of them and keeps them company when they’re waiting to be picked up.

On the actual subject of grooming, last time I was there I asked Jen why Gus and Stanley seemed to have excessive matting, particularly on their necks and behind their ears even though I brush them constantly.

Her answer surprised me and touched my heart. Without hesitation she told me that it was from so many people in the hospital rubbing their heads, cuddling and hugging them. Then she smiled and said, “We call them love knots.”

A Time for Love

With Valentines Day this past week, it was the perfect time for the Doods to be sharing their dog love. For me, there was also a note of nostalgia as I found old holiday photos of Charley and Elbee with “baby’ Gus.

ELBEE I looked strangely fabulous and ridiculous.

On Tuesday, Gus joined the canine cupids at UCLA. Several dogs, plus Blue Moon, a miniature horse, brought the holiday to the hospital. Dressed in festive attire, they delivered homemade cards, gifts and candy to patients and staff.

ELBEE Guess who helped herself to some of the candy.

The morning began with lots of chaos. Dogs and people were excitedly greeting each other outside of the hospital. There was a kissing booth. There were photographers.

ELBEE I don’t know how they ever got that photo.

The real magic of the morning began when we went up to pediatrics. Some of the dogs quietly visited with grateful staff. Others went into the rooms to cheer up young patients and their families. Everyone loved the festive cards and the gifts, but the dogs were the true valentines.

The next day Stanley did his regular visits at Resnick neuropsych. I’m always amazed at how quickly the mood lifts when the dogs walk in. What struck me on Wednesday was how much more the patients were interacting with each other while they were interacting with Stanley. In one of †he adult units, it led to a very positive group discussion.

ELBEE Don’t worry. The therapists keep an eye on her.

On Friday, Gus did double duty. He started the day at Tarzana Hospital. For the first time in weeks there were several pediatric patients who were not in isolation, so, to everyone’s delight, he was able to do bed visits.

Tired as he was when we left, Gus had one more job to before he could go home and rest. I was going to the wound care center to have my husband rewrap my broken finger and I needed a therapy dog.

It was a win/win. First, Gus kept an eye on my husband while he was working on my hand. Then he got lots of attention and love from the wonderful staff. I have found there is something about having a sweet dog with you that makes everyday seem like Valentines Day.