For Tanner, a 1.5-year-old golden doodle and working wellness dog, bringing smiles to the citizens of Haldimand County is the task of the day – and he is more than up to the challenge, working as one of four wellness dogs with Haldimand County’s new Community Paramedic program.
HAGERSVILLE—Community paramedic Nicole Selby poses with Tanner outside of WHGH. —Haldimand Press photo by Mike Renzella
Tanner’s human partner Nicole Selby is a driving force behind the innovative program. She invited The Press to tag along for an afternoon as her and Tanner made their rounds in Hagersville.
“Tanner is our full-time dog,” explained Selby. “He will be able to work with any of the others. Then we have Maisy and Ruger. Ruger’s still doing training so he will stay with me for a while to finish out his training, while Maisy will also be able to go with anyone.”
Selby is currently training seven other paramedics to join the program, four of whom will be full-time community paramedics like Selby, visiting patients in-home and bringing wellness dogs with them, while the other four will be regular paramedics who help with the community outreach aspects of the program.
On the training the dogs receive, Selby explained, “We try and train the dogs to get used to any sort of situation we might get faced with at some point, so those things become normal and we’re not trying to learn it in the moment under pressure.”
Upon meeting the pair outside of the emergency room at West Haldimand General Hospital (WHGH), it was immediately apparent that this is something special – the kind of special that turns a municipality into a community.
Our first stop was the nurses’ station in the emergency department, where Tanner drew in hospital staff for free hugs and smiles.
WHGH staff members (l-r) Terri Lynn Paauw and Hannah Wilson love their weekly visits with one of Selby’s dogs.
“It’s a nice little break to see them; we can relax a little bit. I love seeing Nicole and both dogs interact with the patients waiting to see the doctor in the emergency room,” said Sarah, one of the nurses. “They love seeing the dogs, especially if there’s a few little ones in to see the doctor.”
Selby brought Tanner around to the waiting room, where he gently approached the people there. In just a few minutes, he’d clearly made the day of those waiting.
Next, we brought Tanner up to the Inpatient Unit. He walked the hallways, stopping for a moment with every patient. Selby helps Tanner prop himself right up to the side of the bed, while the patient lit up, reaching to pet him, recounting tales of their old pets, and grinning from ear-to-ear.
Selby helps wellness dog Tanner meet with WHGH patient Karen Bomberry.
A visit from a dog might not change the world, but it most certainly brought a sense of calm, joy, and peace to those who had the good fortune of meeting Tanner that afternoon, and this was only our first stop of the ride along.
Next, Selby and Tanner made the trip over to Hagersville Elementary School, where Tanner was set to visit three primary classrooms.
Tanner laid in the middle of the rug as children sat waiting, barely able to contain their excitement, to go up and pet the dog. When given the go-ahead, the students descended on him with all the gusto you might imagine, arms sticking out everywhere, virtually climbing over each other to get close, and all the while Tanner took in all the excitement with grace and a friendly demeanour.
Tanner meets with students at Hagersville Elementary School.
“The main initiative of this program is to bring a support tool to the community,” said Selby. “Whether that be to our patients we work with on a medical basis or just to the general population with community outreach programs, targeted support programs, and/or crisis response, we wanted to bring that support to the community.”
Selby sat on the rug too, fielding questions and teaching the children a little bit about what she does, and how wellness dogs like Tanner can provide a wide range of health benefits to her patients. On the way out of the school, everyone who saw Tanner gave him some pets, leaving a trail of laughter in his wake.
Our last stop of the day was to see Harvey Jackson at his Hagersville home, where he lives with his wife and is receiving at-home care for Parkinson’s disease. Harvey is just one of many patients throughout Haldimand that Selby and her dogs visit throughout the week.
Selby and Tanner visit with Harvey Jackson, a Parkinson’s patient receiving in-home care through Haldimand’s Community Paramedic program. All of these visits were just one day’s work for tanner.
Tanner immediately greets Harvey like an old friend, putting his head in his lap and then rolling up at his feet while Selby goes through her standard medical check-in.
This visit is a clear highlight for Harvey and his wife. They both love Tanner, with Harvey cooing at him while Selby checked his vitals. Once Tanner had worked his magic, Harvey opened up, talking about playing short stop in his heyday, predicting a Leafs’ championship (you heard it here first), and displaying a warm affability as Selby went through a series of memory-testing questions.
Seeing medical work done proficiently in a home environment, with the added touch of Tanner’s presence, shows why Haldimand County is touting and expanding this program. While Tanner naturally eases all he meets, Selby herself has a calm and natural demeanour that also clearly puts her patients at ease.
Together, they are a force for good in their community, and a perfect example of the kind of homegrown care residents of Haldimand are blessed to have access to.
Who knows, next time you have to visit a local hospital, you just might be lucky enough to meet Tanner, Maisy, or Ruger, for yourself.
Tanner: a good boy
