Sitting in a hospital room this week at St. Charles Medical Center-Bend, 64-year-old Jim Schmahl said visitors are a welcome distraction from the heart bypass surgery that loomed two days ahead.

But the Bend resident never expected two of his visitors to be a whippet – a smaller relative of the greyhound – and a golden retriever.

”There’s something about a dog that brings a little joy to your heart,” Schmahl said, after giving both dogs a thorough petting.

”I never even thought of having dogs in the hospital, (but) I think it’s a great idea.”

Prints, a 5-year-old male whippet, and Watney, a 9-year-old female golden retriever, are two of 15 certified therapy dogs who began visiting patients on a regular, scheduled basis beginning last month, said Janet Windman, one of the program’s coodinators

Windman is also Watney’s handler.

The program, dubbed ”Paws With a Purpose,” takes its name from a Humane Society project in which Humane Society volunteers and their dogs visited hospital patients, Windman said.

The Delta Society, an organization that trains and certifies therapy animals, also sent volunteers with animals to the hospital in the past, but both efforts were relatively informal, St. Charles volunteer coordinator Laurie Turner said.

The new program maintains the partnership with both agencies but has coordinated their efforts under the hospital’s direction, implemented a schedule and standardized the expectations of handlers and their dogs, she said.

According to Selina Witt Berg, another coordinator and Prints’ handler, the scheduling allows dogs and handlers to visit at a time that fits each pair’s needs.

Berg, who used to visit with the Delta Society, said the old format didn’t allow much flexibility, since volunteers visited en masse at a specified time, once a week.

Windman echoed her thoughts.

”Now we have a schedule of when a volunteer is coming, same day, same time, same floor,” Windman said. In most cases, the volunteer will visit once a week.

The schedule allows unit managers to plan for therapy dogs on certain days, even though each volunteer also checks in at a nurse’s station to get a go-ahead before visiting patients, Turner said.

The assignment of each pair to a certain floor means that more patients will be able to meet with therapy dogs. Visits, of course, are contingent upon doctor approval and patient assent.

Volunteers and their dogs come and go independently under the new program. Animals and handlers alike wear a uniform – a cape emblazoned with ”Paws With a Purpose” for the dog and a smock in matching blue for the volunteer – and sport hospital-issued photo identification.

”We want to get to the point where people (say), Oh, there’s a therapy dog program here, put me on the list (for a visit),’ ” Berg said.

Windman said patients aren’t the only ones who look forward to her retriever’s visits.

”I think there’s as much benefit to the staff as to the patients,” she said.

In fact, as Windman and Berg led Watney and Prints past a cluster of desks in a corridor of the hospital, Watney stopped, apparently expecting a treat or a scratch on the head.

According to Berg, Prints’ job begins even before the pair walk inside the hospital. Passersby in the hall, elevator and elsewhere ask to pet the dog almost constantly.

”It’s truly about the dog. It’s not about us,” Berg said.

”It’s the dog that’s the volunteer to help the patients,” she added. ”We’re just getting the dog to the right spot at the right time.”

Yet Berg and Windman also pay attention to Prints and Watney, respectively, for signs of stress or weariness to judge when the dogs have had enough.

”We want to make sure the dogs are having fun, or else they won’t want to be here,” Windman said.

Berg explained certification for a therapy dog is actually a team certification that includes an individual handler who remains alert to signals of stress, such as yawning excessively or panting.

Visits are generally limited to one hour, depending on the dog’s energy level. If Watney is still ready for more after a visit, Windman said she will take her to a waiting room to interact with the people there.

The dogs themselves must go through a rigorous process to be certified for patient therapy.

Any breed can become certified for therapy, Berg said, but a loving, placid temperament is absolutely necessary.

”Most of the other (skills) are trainable,” she said. ”It’s the temperament of that dog to be able to have that many strangers in a strange environment.”

Windman said a dog must be very calm, very obedient and extremely loving.

”We need to have a dog that is loving to the 20th person it meets,” she explained.

The dogs enrolled in ”Paws With a Purpose” span many breeds, running the gamut from a Bernese mountain dog – a Swiss working dog that can weigh 75 to 120 pounds, full grown – to a dachshund, she said.

Each dog, however, must pass a final evaluation by a veterinarian who tests the animal’s responses to loud noises, a tight embrace and other stressors the dog might encounter to ensure the animal will not react aggressively or inappropriately.

Dr. Steve Blauvelt and Dr. Susan Bertram of the East Wind Holistic Clinic for Animals donate their time to run final evaluations and check each dog’s overall health.

Berg warned that training to become certified is a big commitment for both the dog and the volunteer.

Yet she has been taking Prints to visit hospitals, nursing homes and hospices for about four years. Windman has done similar visits with Watney for about five years.

Both Berg and Windman brought their expertise from working at animal-therapy programs at hospitals in other states to Bend as they coordinated St. Charles’ program.

”I think hospitals nationwide are really opening their doors to pet therapy,” Windman said.

Pet-therapy programs are backed by a growing body of research.

Anthrozoos, a peer-reviewed journal published by the International Society for Anthrozoology, regularly runs articles documenting the benefits of animal companionship to people dealing with illness, crises or disabilities. Anthrozoology is the study of human-animal interaction.

Bend seems an ideal place to start an animal therapy program, Windman said, because it is already dog-friendly.

Turner said they hope to expand the program to St. Charles’ Redmond campus someday.

”We anticipate a waiting list (for volunteers) because it is a very popular program (elsewhere),” Turner said.

”I just get so excited to see how excited everyone is to meet Watney,” Windman said. ”It really makes people smile.”

”The real important thing for us is we’re providing a chance for patients to have another time for brightness in their day,” Berg added.

Schmahl, visiting with Watney, agreed.

”The old saying is that dogs are a man’s best friend. (If) you’re lying there hurting, there’s nothing like seeing your best friend pop his head up over the side (of the bed),” he said.

Crouching forward to give Watney’s head a final caress, he told her, ”Keep up the good work, buddy.”

To learn about how to become certified for animal therapy or for more information, contact Janet Windman at 617-9822 or Selina Witt Berg at 312-8663.

Yoko Minoura can be reached at 541-383-0387 or at

yminoura@bendbulletin.com.