b'Before entering any of the patients to give paw, a high-five. I had to re-trainrooms,permissionisobtainedaftera hernotto,saidKaren,smilingasweslight knock on the door by one of the headed down the hall.hospitalvolunteersescortingthe Whenwewalkedinto16-year-olddog/handlerteam.Mostoftheparents Kionas room, her eyes lit up. As she waswerehappytoseeSummer,relievedat petting Summer, she told Karen that shethe break that always brought a smile to is usually afraid of dogs.their faces. Understandably, a few families Really?Karensaid,Andyouwerentupforthevisit,whileseveral werent afraid of Summer. How come?emphaticallyrequestedSummerspres- Jesustoldmenottobeafraid,ence.Itcanbeheartbreaking,knowing answered Kiona, still petting Summer.these kids are very ill, and what their par- It was time for a break, so we head-ents must be going through. Karen and ed down to the cafeteria. One of the jobsSummers spirits never seemed to wane. of the handler is to make sure the dogRoam,an18-month-oldlittleboy, does not burn out during the therapy ses-has been in the hospital most of his life. sions. Dogs obviously arent going to ver-Mom,Melissa,smiledwhenshesaw bally let us know when theyre tired orSummer. Wehavetwodogsathome, anxious,butahandlerwhoknowsherSassy and Zeus. Theyre a little smaller dogwillnoticethesigns.SummerwasthanSummer,though.Theyre looking forward to her treat and a littleChihuahuas,shesaidlaughing,while break. A crowd had gathered in the lobbytending to Roam. just outside the cafeteria, around a coupleNext,wevisitedseven-year-old of baseball players from the Tampa Bay Odee and Dawson at St. Josephs.Andy, whose little sister, Citlaly, was visit- Rays and their mascot, Raymond, who about18percentofthekidsstudied.ing with him. Karen comfortably engaged werevisiting.WhenpitcherBrandon Childrenwitheitherlevelofpickinessinconversationwiththechildren,and Gomes looked up from giving an auto- were almost two times more likely thanexplained what Summer was doing at the graph and saw Summer, he stepped away otherstodevelopanxietysymptomshospital. They both touched Summer as from the news crews and cameras hover- within two years, the study found.she moved in closer to Andys side. ing around him to meet her. All cameras Severe selective eating described inAs we walked from room to room, turned towards the athlete, who was on thestudyisakintoaconditioncalledguestsandstaffallstoppedtopet thefloorearnestlypettingadog.Even avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.Summer.Somestoodbackandsmiled, Raymond couldnt avert the media atten- It can occur in all ages. Some childrenadmiring the working dog team. tion away from the duo (and, he tried, affected are extra-sensitive to food tastes,Nine-month-old Raniah was cooing shamelessly pulling out all his stunts). Its smells and textures.inhermomBranikasarmswhenwe as if Summer parted the seas, bringing a Seven-year-old Dawson has a senso-walkedintheroom. Theybothloved suddensenseofserenitytothelobby. ry processing disorder. His acute sense ofmeeting Summer, and the dog reciprocat- Gomes spoke quietly with Karen about smell is so intense he is adverse to manyed with her own special brand of love. whySummerwasatthehospital.He foods. Eating, to Dawson, makes him anx-Therapy dogs are not supposed to lick, seemed particularly touched that such a ious. That may be difficult for many of uspaworjumpuponpeople. Theyare big dog had the ability to walk the halls who relate food with comfort, fun, fami-understrictvoiceandleashcontrol. of a pediatric hospital. ly and friends.Summerseemedtobeparticularly Summers abilities were never lost on The holidays are particularly stress-enchanted with Raniah, and kept gently Karen. She always knew, given the oppor- ful, said Tammy, Dawsons mom. She hasnudging the babys hands, legs and belly tunity, that Summer would be a wonder- beenbringingDawsontoSt.Josephswithherbignose.Maybeshesensed ful therapy dog, especially with children. Childrens Hospital for about five weeksRaniah needed a little something extra. for feeding therapy. Odee, a two-year-oldUnder Karens watchful eye, though, she O DEE , A G ENTLE G IANT P RESENCE .Great Pyrenees therapy dog, works withneededtoberemindedofherbound- Anewstudy,recentlypublishedinthe Dawson. His handler, Jodi Coccoli, tellsaries. In a quiet, kind voice, Karen spoke medicaljournalPediatrics, suggeststhat Dawson, Odee is a picky eater.toSummerwithacommand.Boyoh preschool-agedchildrenwhoare Part of the therapy involves touch-boy, was Summer embarrassed. She slid to extremely selective about what they eat, ing, smelling, tasting and discussing vari-the floor in one fell swoop, and would not and dislike even being near certain foods, ous foods that Tammy has brought fromlift her head to look at Karen, until she aremorelikelythanotherstohave home in ziploc bags. The first food itemwas given the signal. All was forgotten, underlyinganxietyordepression.Only was a fresh blueberry. Therapist Coleenand from that point on, Summer was on three percent of young children studied Ritari, took a berry into her hand, gaveher best behavior. were that picky. Less severe pickiness, or one to Jodi to give to Odee and handedMy daughters taught Summer how moderate selected eating was found in one to Dawson. (Continued)gwww.TheNewBarker.com Summer/Fall ~ 2015 THE NEW BARKER 57'