Community Corner

Forest Hills Dog Offers Unconditional Love to Children in Need

Through a special volunteer program, Shayna offers quiet comfort.

Shayna quietly lay next to a tiny baby at Children’s Hospital, letting instinct alone guide her in comforting a child braver than most adults.

The 16-month-old’s hand draped over the seat, right next to the bright-eyed golden retriever. When the moment was just right, Shayna stayed still in her spot next to the shallow chair, offering one half-lick of the fingertips.

And then, a small miracle occurred—the child giggled. And his father’s heart melted.

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“Shayna in the hospital is so gentle and so calm,” said Joan Stein of , the dog’s owner and fellow volunteer.

The child had just had major surgery the day before the visit—one of several that he already has had to endure in his short life.

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Shayna has been spreading her own special brand of unconditional love since November. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, her anniversary of passing her first test to volunteer with the Pet Friends program is Feb. 13, one day before the holiday devoted to love.

The Pet Friends program at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in Lawrenceville includes 45 dogs who qualify to volunteer and interact with the patients and families staying there. There are three shifts a day, six days a week for the program. Parents can request a visit from the dogs through their doctor.

Stein and Shayna receive a list of patients for the day and visit all of them, making stops at the oncology unit, coronary care, pediatric ICU and just about everywhere they can go within their time frame. Shayna has her own I.D. badge with her picture and name on it.

She also sports a purple bandana with the hospital’s name during her stay.

“One mother was virtually in tears because she couldn’t believe they had such a great program with these dogs,” Stein said.

If a child is in isolation, they do doorway visits. Each child also receives a picture of Shayna with the dog’s name written on it after the visit.

Shayna, a 6-year-old golden retriever mix rescued from North Carolina, has a sixth sense for knowing when others need a calming touch.

“The funny thing about her is that her nickname is wild child,” Stein said. “She is crazy at home, but she used to go to the nursing home with me to visit my parents and started doing that when she was 8 months old. The minute she would walk in, she knew.”

As they used to visit Stein’s parents, who have both since passed away, Shayna’s behavior at the home was a sweet surprise.

“People would reach out from their wheelchairs and she would put her head in their lap—no pawing, no nothing,” Stein said. “My mother died two years ago in November and I haven’t been able to go back to the nursing home since, and Shayna really missed it.”

Last November, Stein bumped into a veterinarian who used to work with them and told her that they both missed doing visits. That’s when they found out about Pet Friends and started the application process for volunteering.

Shayna had a first test for obedience with basic commands at the vet’s office. The second test was for temperament. She went into a room by herself, took two steps, turned around and looked for Stein, walking back to the door.

“They opened an umbrella in her face, laid on her, played with loud toys and did all the things kids would do, and then we had to take a walk,” Stein said. “The vet was on one side with an IV pole and bumped into her to see how she would react. Well, my one friend is in a wheelchair and she is used to it. She passed with flying colors.”

Stein was so happy, she cried. But that was only step one of the process.

“I went through more to be a part of this program than any job I have ever gotten in 30 years,” Stein said.

The volunteers go through extensive application processes, clearances and more. References, interviews, FBI fingerprints and more are required.

Stein said the two are perfect for the job and make a great team. Shayna has become an ambassador of sorts at the hospital.

“She is totally submissive—except at home,” Stein said. “When she meets any dog or person, she lays down and rolls over.”

Shayna is unfazed by groups of people, equipment, children and the revolving doors and elevators at the hospital. On a recent icy Saturday morning, the pair got to the hospital and had 15 to 20 kids on the list.

“I enjoy it so much and I get so much out of it that sometimes I will spend half an hour with a kid," Stein said.

Colleen O’Connor, child life specialist at the hospital, said the Pet Therapy program is just one other way that the entire staff can try to normalize a child’s stay.

“One of the things kids say they miss a lot are their dogs,” O’Connor said. “A lot of the kids here are chronic and in and out for months or years, and when they can pet a dog, it motivates them.”

Children who refuse to do physical therapy oftentimes end up taking a dog for a walk, which in turn is a substitute of sorts.

“A lot of it is too that all day, they are asked to do things they don’t want to do,” O’Connor said. “When they are with the dog, the dog doesn’t ask anything of them.”

One young girl was at the hospital for two months and wrote a story about being there after her stay. She said when recovering from surgery, her favorite dog was there. She was able to pet and feel the dog, and wrote that at that moment, she knew that she was alive.

“She knew she was going to be fine,” O’Connor said. “It’s simple things from walking a dog to it literally being a lifeline.”

On one particular visit, a little girl with leukemia was petting Shayna on the floor, and the dog fell asleep.

“It’s not just the child—it’s the whole family that benefits,” Stein said. “I have always done volunteering types of things but this is something where I get 150 percent back. She loves it, and it’s our quality time together.”


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