Pascha, 11 Weeks Old, Visits the Alzheimer’s Unit
6/28/23

Nearly every day the mornings start off clear, then clouds move in, build and we have another thunderstorm – sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes in the evening. We finally had a nice afternoon (despite building thunderheads), so the staff and I decided that I would bring Pasca rather than one of my therapy dogs for my weekly visit.  We knew they would enjoy seeing how much Pascha had grown.  She is at the independent stage – don’t hold me, don’t make me sit still – so we needed to be able to be outside with toys.  About halfway through the visit I removed her collar since she kept stopping play to scratch. My dogs don’t wear collars at home, just when we go somewhere, so she found it distracting.

I took a snake and a cow, both big toys that had squeakers and were good for tug games – and of course a ball.  A couple of the residents enjoyed throwing the ball for Pasha, and several tried tug games.  The afternoon was actually quite warm, so Pascha kept trying to take the toys and lie under the bench, on the cool grass.  Jessica was able to entice her out with one of the tug toys so that everyone could enjoy her. 

In the last photo, Pascha enjoyed investigating their decorated tree (fairy tree???).