If you have ever been on North Beach during the hours when Seabrook’s canine residents can freely romp in the sand and surf, you have probably met Sammi, a gorgeous 6 and a half year old black Lab who loves to swim in and fetch balls out of the ocean. A wiggly bundle of black Lab enthusiasm, Sammi greets everyone, dogs and people alike, with a big smile and a gentle approach that make her perfect for her day job: Sammi is a registered therapy dog.
Since February 2012, Sammi and Meg Davidson have worked as a therapy dog team with Southeastern Therapy Animal Resources (S.T.A.R.) and have logged over 150 hours visiting hospitals, libraries, children’s camps, and anywhere that therapy dogs are invited in to help. Meg knew Sammi would make a great therapy dog because she is friendly and smart, empathetic and tolerant. The process of becoming a therapy dog requires many hours of specific training but Meg says that Sammi is a natural at her job. “On the day of one of her evaluations at a nursing home,” Meg says, “a resident dropped a chicken leg right in front of Sammi. As a labrador, Sammi is quite food motivated and I could see how much she wanted that piece of chicken. But I told her to ‘leave it,’ and she did, and she passed her evaluation.”
Unlike service animals, who are working dogs specifically trained to help people with defined tasks, therapy dogs – who are sometimes described as “comfort dogs” – are given the more generalized task of trying to make people feel better. Therapy dogs work in hospitals, nursing homes, in schools and libraries, at airports and even in courthouses. By Meg Davidson’s estimation, there are about 4 teams of therapy dogs and their handlers on Seabrook. Sammi’s current weekly assignment has her rendering comfort and calmness to patients undergoing chemotherapy at Roper St. Francis. But she truly blossoms during the weeks she spends at Camp Happy Days, a camp for children with cancer. There, the kids take turns throwing the ball into the lake and swimming as fast as they can to see whether they can beat Sammi to the ball. At the end of the day, having done noble service, Sammi returns home on the bus, exhausted and happy.
Do you have an amazing Seabrook Island pet? Would you like to see your pet featured in an upcoming issue of Tidelines? Drop a note to seabrookpets@gmail.com and you just might find your pet starring in a future posting.
-Submitted by Deborah Robinson