“Why, yes, I do believe I would like to try one of those liver snaps.”
Rosie, a 140-pound St. Bernard, and Cormac, a 4-year-old golden retriever, didn’t need words to let Julie Neva, owner of , know they would be more than happy to have her pop a treat into their mouths during the Wags & Wine “friend-raiser” held at in Greenwood Village.
Rosie and Cormac are among the 25 pooches that are part of the . They, and a dozen or so of their four-legged colleagues, were guests of honor at the get-together planned by Lyn Schaffer.
Schaffer, whose husband, Michael, is a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s, organized Wags & Wine to acquaint more people with the program that began in 1984 and has grown to become an international model.
The four-legged guests kept their eyes trained on Neva as she circulated with a tray filled with doggie yum-yums from her shop in Lowry Town Center; provided the bite-sized Reuben sandwiches, baked Brie, chicken skewers and desserts that the two-legged guests could snack on.
The Prescription Pet Program began after Fern Bechtel, then director of volunteers at Children’s, saw how much better her own son, a cancer patient, seemed to do when he spent time with the family dog.
She assembled a group of hospital physicians and staff members to work with Denver-area veterinarians Jan Facinelli and Jim Houchens to develop a pilot program for animal-assisted therapy at Children’s.
“There was some pushback at first,” admits veterinarian Sara Mark, who developed the protocol for the Prescription Pet Program, “especially from the infection control folks. We started out by taking dogs, all of whom had been rigorously screened, to empty beds in the oncology ward where staff, patients and parents could evaluate them.”
The response was overwhelmingly positive and the program was born. “We are constantly upgrading and shifting to meet current needs,” Mark adds. “We have an international reputation to uphold.”
Rosie, the St. Bernard, has been in the program for two years and makes regular visits to patients in the psych ward. “She doesn’t let many people get past without having them pet her,” says owner Beth McCarthy.
Cormac, the golden retriever, also is a two-year veteran of the program. His owner, Darby Kelly, said Cormac’s picture will be appearing on bottles of malbec wine being sold as a benefit for a golden retriever rescue organization in Arizona where the Kelly family has a second home.
The 150 who attended Wags & Wine also included Guy and Susan Wroble, with Hathaway, a black Labrador assigned to a therapeutic gym at Children’s; Dr. Erik Anderson from the , a partner in the Prescription Pet Program; Robyn Roggensack, president of the hospital’s Association of Volunteers, whose black Lab, Abigail, is a Prescription Pet; optometrist Deborah Roos; Bonnie Neiheisel, who has had two dogs in the Prescription Pet Program; and Beth Ronsick with Ollie, a 6-year-old West Highland White Terrier in his third year as a Prescription Pet.
Ollie was born in China, where Ronsick was living at the time. “I got him involved in the Prescription Pet Program because he needed to feel like he was contributing. We go twice a month to Children’s, and we both feel that we get back much more than we give.”
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
Online: More pictures from this event denverpost.com/seengallery
