Il primo cane da terapia pediatrica di Leopoli: il Golden Retriever aiuta i bambini a superare il dolore e la paura

At the St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv, the city’s first therapy dog, Alto, has begun work. He is a golden retriever who came from Odesa, completed training in Lviv, and, after passing his certification exams, started working with children. Alto supports young patients during treatment and helps them through both physical and psychological rehabilitation.

Alto is now a year and a half old. He has been working full-time at St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital for three weeks. He visits twice a week.

Before starting work, Alto underwent special training to prepare for interacting with children.

The dog was born in Odesa and spent his first year there. After that, he was transferred to the canine center in Lviv.

“Alto is very calm and very kind. He has a trait that sets him apart from other dogs: he loves all people and is very open to communication,” says educator and canine therapist Inna Doroniuk.

Medical director of St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital Oleksandr Kalinchuk says that interacting with Alto helps children overcome their fear of the hospital.

“If a child is afraid of the hospital or has negativity toward it, then treatment – physical procedures and rehabilitation – becomes more difficult. Stress really slows down recovery. And what do we see? We see that working on a child’s mental health with the help of our dog Alto gives a truly powerful boost to help them recover faster,” Kalinchuk shares.

According to Inna Doroniuk, another dog is currently being trained to join the therapeutic team.

“A dog connects with a person, with a child, on an emotional level – it’s a higher kind of bond, it’s incredible. A dog brings joy, a dog brings love. That is probably the essence of canine therapy,” she concludes.

Oh my god I love this so much.

I do work for a nonprofit in the US that provides services to critically ill children and their families. We’ve expanded our therapy dog program enormously in the last 10 years and it’s been such a ray of sunshine for our families, our staff, and even the dogs and their people. Just a few days ago I was chatting with a therapy dog owner and she was telling me the DOG gets so excited when she knows she’s coming to see us and our families that she’s practically beside herself on the car ride over. 🩷

This truly warms my heart and puts a smile on my face 🙂

Slava Ukraine!