Dogzilla--Miracle Worker

I used to routinely take Dogzilla to the hospital with me on weekends. He lit that place up like it was the Second Coming or something. Then one day I got a letter from the Medical Staff President referencing a "no-dogs" policy at the hospital. It didn't say anything like: Hey I saw you with your dog on such and such a day and that is a big no-no. It pretended to just be an FYI type thing as if they were sending this announcement out to everybody. Now it's not like I didn't suspect there was a policy along these lines but I had decided that I would bring the dog until somebody told me I couldn't. Ever since then I've been limited to taking him to the nursing homes and to my office. He is an absolute rock star at the nursing home. People whose eyes have been staring into the middle distance for the last 3 months suddenly perk up and go "I see a small dog" with sort of a "pinch me" tone of voice. People who can't speak make noises that sound just like "I see a small dog" in a "pinch me" tone of voice. It is both wonderful and heart breaking.
Dogzilla is presently napping on his fleece bed under the bookshelf. He has worked his little tail off all day. He takes his responsibilities as a dog very seriously. Even when he can barely keep his little eyes open he drags himself along from exam room to exam room in my wake. He greets every patient personally in the waiting room. Even the most irritable miserable hurting people in the world can't resist his power. He melts them just like that and they feel better immediately. I believe in the therapeutic power of the relationship between physician and patient but I have to work at it a lot harder than Dogzilla does. For the most part people leave my office feeling better and with a slightly lighter load even when they've had to get by on just a visit with me without the Little Miracle Worker. I need to find my own equivalent of a little fleece better and a piece of raw hide but until then Dogzilla will just have to work his magic on me, too.

poodle