Man’s best friend lends hand
Dogs helping area resident overcome her partial paralysis

When you meet Cynthia Doten, the first thing you notice is her ever-present bright smile.
Behind that smile is the heart of a lion and a drive to achieve anything she puts her mind to. The 27-year-old Burkburnett resident and Vernon College student’s outlook on life is amazing, considering what life has dealt her.
In 1997, Doten was involved in an automobile accident that damaged the motor cortex portion of her right brain. This injury left her with limited use of her left arm and leg. After spending three months in the hospital, Doten emerged with the determination not to allow her disability keep her from living a normal life. After hundred of hours of painful physical rehabilitation, Doten learned to dress herself and do daily household chores, and even relearned how to drive a car. She now has a dream to help others by working with other physically disabled people, and she would like to have Jade, her pit bull terrier, at her side.
The medical community acknowledges that a connection between a patient and an animal can have a positive effect on the healing process. Studies show that dogs have a calming and therapeutic effect on patients who must cope with the emotional aspects of their illness. Dogs and cats can also bring a spot of joy to people who reside in long-term care or drug-rehabilitation facilities.
Therapeutic visitation dogs are the most commonly used type of therapy animal. These dogs are everyday pets whose owners take the time to visit hospitals, nursing homes, detention centers and rehabilitation facilities to help people who are away from home due to mental or physical illness or court order. These people miss their pets, and interacting with a visitation dog can brighten their day and lift their spirits. For some, it helps motivate them in their treatment, reminding them of their own pets waiting for them at home or those they had in the past.
Dogs offer themselves to patients with joy, unconditional love, great affection and boundless patience. They can have a profound ability to touch residents not engaged by other kinds of therapies. Perhaps this is because they offer themselves in a nonthreatening, wordless way that speaks love and attention.
If you are interested in finding out more about therapy dogs and how you and your pet might brighten someone’s day, please contact one of the organizations that can start you off on the right paw. These organizations are:
Delta Society: 580 Naches Avenue SW, Suite 101, Renton, WA 98055-2297. (425) 226-7357
Therapy Dogs International: 88 Barley Road, Flanders, NJ 07836. (973) 252-9800
CONGRATULATIONS: Last weekend, trainer Adrianne Thompson and some of her student riders from the Mesquite Tree Farm Riding Academy sallied forth to a competition held at Prospering Farm in Prosper, Texas. They made a good showing and won several ribbons. These riders are: Bibi Gamboa, Katherine Brock, Maggie Hines, Rachel Orr and Becky Hawkins.