ZZ Litter, 61 Days Old, Visits the Alzheimer’s Unit
8/16/23

I have never taken pups this old on nursing home visits because they are so very wild and don’t want to be held in the residents’ laps.  We were unable to go earlier because they had covid in the main part of the nursing home, so we had either the choice of not letting the residents see this bunch, or dealing with them the way they are and just trying very short petting sessions then letting that pup down to play and picking up another.  The Alzheimer’s Unit residents, especially, want to hold and pet the pups – and have trouble understanding why they can’t.  But oh, do they love the pups!! 

For the visit, I searched through all my toys and took the hardiest, least-likely-to-be-chewed-on ones.  Only a couple had squeakies, and the pups were not pleased.  Charlene, Betsy and Betsy’s grandson, Jack, helped me – and they worked hard.  The heat DID NOT slow down the pups!  Great Scott, but they were wild.  They got it into their heads to run down the hallway and it took Charlene, Jack and assorted staff members to keep them in the activity room.

Joy, as usual, gave them her keys to play tug with.  I wanted her that the lanyard on her work keys might not survive with this bunch, but she said not to worry, that she had others.  Sure enough, the pups loved to chew on the lanyard and it ended up in pieces.  Joy also gave them her personal keys to play with.  Jessica let the pups play with her keys, too, but kept them around her neck.

Despite the heat, the pups played about 50 minutes.  Despite their wildness, we managed to let everyone pet them who wanted to.  We also laughed a lot. The visit was a success!