Patients’ Best Friend: Facility Dog Peru
It is a universal truth that dogs are many people’s most treasured companions. Peru, the facility dog at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation White Oak, takes her job as a partner one step further. In her professional role, Peru helps patients undergoing physical or occupational rehabilitation for stroke, injury or other disability.
“Peru is a working dog and an employee of the hospital,” said Heather Tropiano, PsyD, rehabilitation psychologist for Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation and Peru’s handler. “She is part of the rehab team and greatly enhances the experiences for our patients.”
The Powers of a Facility Dog
Unlike a therapy dog, who has a volunteer handler and provides emotional support to patients, Peru has undergone rigorous training to work as a facility dog. The 6-year-old half-Labrador and half-golden retriever was bred to be a service dog. After two years in the Canine Companions program, they realized Peru would be better placed as a facility dog, helping dozens of people every week, rather than just helping one person as a traditional service dog.
“Peru is extensively trained and vetted,” Dr. Tropiano said. “She also must undergo retesting regularly to ensure she is still up to the job. We as a team also have to undergo recertification every year. It’s a lot of ongoing work.”
Peru knows more than 50 commands that can help patients, including:
- Helping a patient take off a jacket
- Opening or closing drawers
- Pushing a button to summon an elevator
- Picking up dropped items, such as keys and pill bottles
During rehabilitation sessions, Peru assists patients with tasks, such as kicking a soccer ball back and forth or retrieving rings that a patient throws on a stand.
“If someone has had a stroke, getting them to stand or take their first steps can be overwhelming and anxiety-provoking,” Dr. Tropiano said. “Having Peru work with patients one-on-one can help them get closer to reaching their rehabilitation goals without them even realizing it because she is such a novel and engaging distraction.”
Providing Inspiration and Help to Patients
Peru has worked with Dr. Tropiano, a former military psychologist for the U.S. Air Force, since 2020. She usually works with two to three patients each day. When patients enter rehabilitation, they are asked if they are open to working with Peru. No one is forced to interact with her if they are allergic or scared of dogs.
“Just as we individualize all rehabilitation for patients, we use Peru in different ways with different people,” Dr. Tropiano said. “We had one recent patient recovering from a brain and spinal cord injury who loved walking his dogs prior to the injury. He’s now unsteady and on a walker, but we have taken him outside to walk Peru so he can learn to balance and ambulate on different surfaces. Being able to do this before he left the hospital was very important to him.”
Some patients even get to bathe Peru, because the activity bolsters balance and fine motor planning and sequencing.
“We collaborate with the physical, occupational and speech therapists to coordinate how Peru can best fit into their multidisciplinary care plan,” Dr. Tropiano said. “We’re always brainstorming new creative ways to use Peru to help our patients get back to their lives.”
Expanding the Facility Dog Program
Not all rehabilitation hospitals, including those in the Adventist HealthCare system, have facility dogs. However, this novel approach has proven so successful at Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation White Oak that it will be expanding into Adventist HealthCare Rehabilitation Rockville later in 2024.
“We’re waiting for Peru’s new coworker to join us hopefully soon,” Dr. Tropiano said. “We’re also looking at different ways to build the program and to track program outcomes in the future.”
Although Peru is technically an employee, she does not receive annual performance evaluations, just a lot of treats for her very good work. Additionally, Dr. Tropiano has been tracking Peru’s effectiveness with patients in soon-to-be-published research.
“We found that patients, regardless of their diagnosis or severity of injury, will engage in a task for longer periods of time when they’re doing it with Peru versus without,” Dr. Tropiano said. “We had seen this anecdotally but now we have the data to quantify it.”
Peru also receives plenty of love on patient evaluations after they have left rehab.
“Patients frequently comment that working with Peru is more helpful than working with a therapist,” Dr. Tropiano said. “She helps them take their mind off the pain or the anxiety they’re feeling, so they’re able to do things that they didn't think they could. In short, Peru is a very cute and friendly cognitive distraction.”
Officially a Very Good Dog
In January 2023, Peru made a trip to the Maryland State House for a special meeting with then-Gov. Larry Hogan. After affectionate greetings all around, Hogan awarded Peru with a Governor’s Citation for her achievements in helping patients.
Peru has not let the recognition go to her head, however. When she is not working, she lives with Dr. Tropiano and her family, including two other dogs. She loves baked salmon, squeaky toys and swimming.
“All her training just goes out the window when she gets to the pool – we have to physically take her out of the pool sometimes, because she just wants to stay in,” Dr. Tropiano said. “When she doesn’t have that work vest on, she can have days where she’s kind of like a teenager – she hears you, but she won’t do what you’re asking her to do. And that’s okay. She’s off work.”
