ROCK ISLAND — A local therapy dog has recently been recognized for making so many visits around the Quad Cities.
Bailey, an 80-pound labradoodle, was given an award for making 200 facility visits. The award was given to Bailey in April 2017 from the American Kennel Club.
Her owner, Sharon Cramer, noted that those 200 facility visits equates to visiting about 4,000 people in hospitals, senior living centers, hospice care, classrooms and more.
Bailey was also was given the 2017 Therapy Dog of the year volunteer from Rock Island retirement community Friendship Manor.
Sharon said as soon as she got Bailey the therapy dog training began.
“Her training started the minute I got her because I taught her not to jump on people,” Sharon said. Bailey was taught to be gentle, and can sit for long periods of time. Sharon also voiced her confidence that Bailey can handle any situation.
“Bailey has seen it all and I would allow her and feel comfortable with her seeing any population, any kind of situation,” she said.
As a therapy dog, Bailey can offer comfort and healing to people she meets. Not to be confused with service dogs, which are trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. Read more about the differences here.
If you are interested in training your dog to become a therapy dog, click here.
