Duo Dog Thor isn’t your average Labrador Retriever, he’s a facility dog trained by a Duo Dogs, and a team member of the Child Life department at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Around the halls and patient rooms, he wears his vest and blue cape as he helps children heal.
Thor is lucky to have two caregivers. Kim is his home handler; Justine is his work handler and, together, they coordinate his schedule and transportation. Kim and Justine’s offices are next to each other at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, allowing Thor to be near both of his moms. Kim drives Thor to and from work and hands him off to Justine so this expert facility dog can begin his workday.
According to Justine, a certified child life specialist, “Thor went through two years of intense training to help kids meet their medical goals.” Born in 2017, Thor was bred, raised, and trained by Duo Dogs. At 8 weeks old, Thor was placed with his volunteer puppy raisers. They exposed Thor to lots of people and places, ensuring he thrives in all situations. Then, when he was 18 months old, he returned to Duo Dogs for advanced training before being placed with a hospital.
Meet Duo Dog Thor
Birthday
January 31, 2017
Favorite Food
Peanut Butter
Favorite Movie
Secret Life of Pets
At SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, Thor starts his day with a team meeting and a grooming session to make sure he’s clean. Then, he and Justine go outside for a quick walk and, once back inside, they head to the top floor of the hospital and begin to see patients. While Thor happily greets everyone, fellow employees included, he and Justine have four to six appointments scheduled per day covering the hospital and two outpatient clinics.
A child’s physician places an order for Thor to make his visits. There are a variety of reasons a pediatric care team may feel a visit from a facility dog could be beneficial to the healing process. Thor sees kids with mobility and physical therapy challenges, PTSD, chronic or terminal conditions, and much more. Thor’s even been used to help dog-bite patients in the hospital. “We want these kids’ first experience with a dog after a bite to be with a trained facility dog. It helps to ease their anxiety. He’s the most gentle, docile dog,” said Justine.
Thor connects with patients often when they’re at their worst. “A lot of times, if patients have an existing relationship with Thor, they’ll request he be there for difficult conversations,” says Justine. Thor not only supports the child but their family too. “If a sibling is coming to the hospital to say goodbye to their brother or sister, they’ll meet with Thor first. He walks siblings into the room, where it can be so overwhelming with the medical equipment, but they have the leash and the support of Thor,” Justine shared.
When Thor goes home with Kim at the end of his shift, you’d expect he’d be tired. Not Thor; he gets the zoomies! It’s his way to de-stress from the day. While he has many happy encounters, he has some that are sad. Justine said, “He absorbs a lot of emotion and stress from people—that’s his job and he’s really, really good at it—but he needs downtime and an outlet to just be a dog too.”
