Dying woman lays in hospital bed. Therapy dog tenderly comforts her during her final moments

Meet JJ. He’s a golden retriever belonging to Project Canine, and a HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response K9.

He’s also been a therapy dog since he was only a year old.

JJ is a therapy dog who has helped dozens of people by visiting them in hospitals or going on walks with them in order to make them feel better.

As a therapy dog, JJ can almost always tell when someone is sad or in need of therapy from her.

Recently, JJ visited an older woman in a hospital who was very close to death. So close that she could barely see or move. She was also the patient with the least amount of visitors.

The woman had been in the hospital for a very long time, and the nurses had brought JJ to help ease her pain and make her feel better.

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Even though she couldn’t see very well, she could still feel. JJ was very insistent on having the woman touch him and run her hands through his fur. He knew that he would be bringing her a sense of calm and laid his body on her.

The woman fell asleep with JJ sitting on her lap, her hands still tangled in his fur. He sat there very quietly, and eventually fell asleep as well. The nurses said it was the first time they saw the woman snore from sleeping so soundly.

Later, JJ and the woman woke up, and JJ bid her farewell.

She passed away the next day.

JJ was lucky enough to be able to provide comfort and company for someone who had none before he got there. And he will continue doing it for many others as long as he can.

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I often do bed visits, though never without The Bossy One. This is a lady who has very few people to visit her. She cannot see and often does not wake up, but she did like having her hand on my fur. She was very calm during my visit. We were listening to Yeats, by the way. I was very insistent to have her touch me, more so than usual. We fell asleep later with her hand splayed on my head, both of us snoring (but no proof of that!) I sure can be silly at times, but I also know when to be quiet and present. Her caregivers were very appreciative when they saw this video.

EDIT: For those concerned, this lovely woman was not abandoned by family, she simply had no family, but some very lovely caregivers who took care of her for years. She was a feisty, independent blind person who would try to get around on her own (thus the bruise). She came to our Hospice House when it was clear she was close to death and she died peacefully the next day. Yes, we have some wonderful CNAs here as well, and one gave her a manicure earlier in the day. JJ only does visits with people who want her, and this lady did like dogs. This moment on video (a very rare occurance) came at the end of our 12 hour shift (I’m a hospice nurse), when we had some time to sit at her bedside.

Posted by JJ, Hospice Therapy Dog on Sunday, February 23, 2014

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