Meet Thor, he’s a black Labrador Retriever that works as a facility dog SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Thor is a Duo Dog – bred, raised, and trained by Duo Dogs, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that trains and connects dogs with individuals, families, and communities. Thor was in training with Duo for 2.5 years. He grew up with his puppy raisers who volunteered their time to care and socialize him every day. Thor went through intensive training to prepare him for his job at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon.
Today, Thor works alongside his handler, Abbie, who is a Certified Child Life Specialist. Together, they help patients cope with their hospitalization through various interventions. This includes providing age-appropriate education before procedures, providing support to help kids meet their medical goals, non-pharmacological pain management, and other interventions to help children get through some of life’s most challenging events.
A typical day for Thor may include teaching kids about the hospital, why they are here, and what happens during a test or procedure. Thor is very supportive and loves a good medical play session to help patients comply with medical exams or understand their new diagnosis. He even has preparation videos of him doing some procedures to help explain the process, while helping ease any fear and anxiety that may come along with the “unknown”. If a patient does not want to get out of bed, Thor may play a friendly game of hide and seek, motivating patients so they have incentive to get out of their rooms. Thor loves a good scavenger hunt – which can help our patients with counting, reading, speaking, walking, or even learning how to work together in a group setting.
These are just a few of the endless possible ways that our mighty Labra-Thor works to provide support and motivation to our kids daily.
