Mary Leidel & Autumn Autumn was trained as a therapy dog at PetPartners.org My wonderful Autumn is now a therapy dog and we are a team. We have worked long and hard for this and it is well worth it. Autumn is a gift from God and has made many people have a better day due to those that we visit. I swore a few years ago when my mother was in the hospital with cancer that I would someday have a therapy dog when I saw the way my mother smiled and forget her worries and fears when a therapy dog was in her room. Cancer is a very taxing illness and people often need relief from the pain and stressors of it. About two years ago I got my wonderful doodle Autumn. I could not imagine a better dog because she is so intelligent, lovable, gentle and well behaved. She is our fur child! We attended classes and often visited Lockhaven Convalescent Home on a weekly basis and when we would go into a room the people would smile and you could see the joy in their eyes that someone was there to visit. The people would pet autumn and laugh at her tricks and you could just see it brighten their day. I was so happy to help these people have a better day and it also gave autumn a great deal of enjoyment too. Autumn lights up the room and has a wonderful personality and she seems to know to be careful around sick or the elderly. Many times when we entered a room heads would be down and the look of boredom was so obvious or they looked lost and confused due to their age. After a visit they would then look happier and seem so content it is a big change then when we first go in a room for a visit. We took more classes and Autumn became a top dog and had gone through 3 sets of classes. We then contacted a therapy dog organization (Pet Partners) to get tested, she passed and we will now be able to go to homes and schools and hospitals for visits. I am so blessed to see how these people are affected by our visits and it is so rewarding to be a part of this. -These people look so forward to the visits and Autumn and I do also. God gave me a super wonderful fur baby and I share her with others. We give people photos to keep until our next visit and who would think that would mean so much to a person but it does. You know you are doing well when a person takes hold of your hand and with tears in their eyes say “Thank you for coming to visit me!” We look forward to touching many lives in the future and helping people have a better day. Mary Leidel & Autumn UPDATE JULY 2013 : Autumn and I will be volunteering at St. Rita's Hospital in Lima, Ohio. We are so looking forward to touching and helping as many people as we can, I had an orientation yesterday and it went very well. I will have to take Autumn in and do a schedule next, this is a huge place and it is all so new for us. If we touch a life so that there is less pain or they have less stress that will be such a blessing to all involved. I know when I have to get a shot or go to the Dr. I am nervous, if I had a pet with me at the time I know it would help me. Children are more frightened then adults and there is something so special that Autumn has that seems to comfort and calm others just by looking at her. This place has only a few therapy dogs where our other hospital has many more so we felt this is the place for us. This has been a long road to get where we are but so worth it. I stressed I really want to spend time with cancer patients as what these people have to go through is often so horrible. I also would like to be put on call for anyone in need of a comfort from autumn. We are a team and we both love the people and visiting so I am sure this will be wonderful. I know how lonely and scary a hospital stay can be and to help someone with this stress is doing God's work and we are all for that! We both really love children so we want to get involved in a local reading program to help children read better by reading stories to Autumn. This is a great program and it is showing great results. They read to a dog which they think is fun to do, and some children do not want or like to read. The pet makes them want to read to that pet thus improving their reading skills and desire to read. I have been so driven to do these things that I know I am suppose to and Autumn is such a gift and a partner. She is a fur angel! UPDATE AUGUST 2013 : The people at the hospital are always asking what kind of dog Autumn is, many seem to not know or seen or heard of a goldendoodle. They are so impressed by her looks and the was she is so mild and smart and friendly. I love this work and it is so rewarding and makes so many people smile and feel better even if only for a short time! Doodles rule! UPDATE AUGUST 2014 : Wanted to send you an update on my therapy girl autumn that is a volunteer at St. Rita's Hospital in Lima, Ohio. We have now been doing this for about 9 months and I can not begin to let people know how wonderful and important doing pet therapy is. It makes me feel so wonderful to see the smiles on people's faces and hear their laughter. We usually visit cancer patients and children. I wanted to share a story that really let me know we are doing something to enrich people that are ill. There was a elderly male that was dying of cancer and he was in pain and having trouble breathing daily. We started visiting him and he so loved the visits. He and his wife had never had children so their pets in life were their children instead. He would visit with us and so loved being with autumn he enjoyed her company so much. He passed away and I was so sad and felt so bad. His wife later told me that when she came to visit him he would go on and on about his visit with us. I had no idea of this until she and I talked after he passed. In this conversation I was floored by what she asked me next. She wanted to know if it were okay to place autumn's photo by his urn for the funeral. She said that the time we had spent with him meant so much to him that she wanted to do this. I cried because I had no idea how much this had meant to them. I told her you sure can. This made me even more aware of how therapy pets can touch a person's life. I love what we do and will do this as long as we can. If you yourself have thought of doing this the rewards you gain are glorious! I thank God for my autumn and for sending her to me. I am blessed. I also have another doodle that i want to be a therapy dog also. Her name is Summer and they are my girls and I love them more then words can express. UPDATE DECEMBER 2015 : I recently lost my husband of 40 years and it has been devastating for me. I have to say that having my two doodle girls have been a life saver for me. I live alone now with hardly anyone around or family. Being in such grief is overwhelming at times and sometimes I feel like giving up. My two doodle girls give me a reason to get up everyday when sometimes the desire is not there on my part. Their names are Summer and Autumn and they are my fur babies and because of them I can get up and face the day. They give me something to do as well as love me and comfort me when I cry. They seem to know my pain and come up and look at me and then lick me or just cuddle with me. They are amazing and I thank God for these two beautiful special gifts that God has placed in my life. They make me smile and are so loving and such cuddlers. To me all animals and pets are wonderful but until I had these two doodles I was never so blessed and enriched in life. My husband adored them also and I am sure at first they too felt his loss. We comforted each other. One night I was really down and out and as I sat there crying and feeling so overwhelmed I felt my hand being nudged and looked down and there they were summer and autumn. They looked at me so tender and sweetly and again nudged my hand. As the tears rolled down my cheeks I sat there and stroked and loved on my special babies. I felt so blessed by them and not as alone I felt I was. Pets some to sense when things are not right and they have such a wonderful way of showing that they care and are there for you. I am blessed. Mary Leidel Pet Partners Touching Lives, Improving health For more information on Pet Partners.org and how you can help: http://www.petpartners.org/