WW Litter, 45 Days Old, Visits the Alzheimer’s Unit
3/2/22

Water was everywhere this afternoon when it was time to walk the pups to the car and head for the Alzheimer’s Unit.  I grabbed a towel to put on the residents’ laps to keep them dry when they held puppies.  The pups’ undersides would definitely be damp, if not downright wet, after they splashed through all the puddles. 

Just before I left, Joy texted me to say they might have us outside in the courtyard since it was such a beautiful day – at least 61 degrees by that time.  I already had my duffel packed with new toys, but I quickly grabbed a big plastic bucket and threw in some outside toys; definitely don’t want to get the “indoor” toys wet and ruin them.  The ones with squeakers can’t be washed if they get dirty so I wouldn’t be able to use them again – and they aren’t cheap! 

Sure enough, we were outside.  I was kept busy as I photographed, changing the iso and white balance settings as every few minutes the light changed from bright sunlight to dark cloud cover.   When the clouds moved in, I’d quickly move to a different position so as to photograph different residents.  When the sun came back out, I’d quickly shift positions so I wasn’t photographing into the sun.

Some of the toys were ones I bought for Justice when he came.  These pups loved his favorite toy, a chipmunk, and had some great tug and keep away-battles with it.

Joy always provides two great toys, too – her neck keychain & name tag, and her long hair that she lets down from its clasps so that they can taste and tug.  Other fun “toys” were her sunglasses, as a snowbank, and the snowballs she made from it.

I haven’t been able to go to the Unit for almost a month (I usually go every Wednesday with a therapy dog) because they had covid.  A bunch of the residents had to be moved to isolation, which was very hard on them and had just gotten back to the Unit.  They looked pretty rough and were not as animated as usual, and some who usually stay for the entire visit headed to their rooms to rest.  They loved the pups but were too weak to stay. 

Joy said all but 4 caught covid.  One of my favorite residents died from it.  All this made me very sad.  I know these people well and love them.  It was tough seeing the staff members having to wear all kinds of protective clothes and gloves.  I so wish this pandemic would end.  They were sure glad to see the dogs (and me) again and thanked me several times.  The dogs cheer the staff members as well as the residents.

The pups lasted 50 minutes before they crashed.  They visit again next Thursday.  Tessa helped today and will help with all the visits, keeping the pups corralled and helping the residents pet them.  I’m very grateful for her help.

As usual, I started out to edit a few photos for the diary.  But I just couldn’t stop at a few of my friends with the pups.  Once I get all the photos edited, I’ll probably add more to this page so check back.

to WW litter diary (updated daily)