CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The minute Laura Diachenko hands Jack’s leash to Roger Wieland, they are off on their daily adventure at Cape Coral’s Gulf Coast Village.
“Hi, Jack,” an employee says as the two amble down the hall.
Jack — a miniature Australian shepherd — stops, gets a tap on the head and then he and Wieland are off to their next greeting at the independent living and skilled-nursing facility.
They make a couple of more visits before Wieland, 91, a retired veterinarian, and Jack, 3, enter a sitting Tai Chi class. The man who gave Jack a treat two days before gets the first visit but within a couple of minutes, the pup has gone from resident to resident to say good morning. Not everyone pets him but most do. Whatever their mental condition, the residents feel Jack’s presence and calmness.
Then he goes next to Wieland’s chair, lies down and takes a -— sorry Jack – —cat nap.
“This is connecting,” said a smiling Hilmar Fuchs, the Tai Chi instructor and martial arts master. “Humans and their environment. That’s what makes this so very, very important.”
Dogs not only are a big part of families but for years they’ve been considered great therapy and not just for the elderly. They help college students who are either away from home or stressed as well as those with post traumatic stress disorder or physical or mental handicaps.
