Black River Memorial Hospital has had a special visitor roaming its halls lately, bringing smiles to the faces of patients, families and staff.  Every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m., our certified pet therapy dog, Ike, along with owner and hospital volunteer, Ann Pederson, make the rounds to patient rooms to visit with folks staying there.  “We check in at the head station where we get a list of patients that we should see,” Pederson says.  “We always knock on the door and ask if they’d like to meet Ike.  To date, I have not been turned down yet!”

Ike is a 3 year old, English Setter with a sweet and mellow personality.  “I knew there was something special about him, if he wasn’t going to be the next ‘best in show’ at Westminster, being a therapy dog was the next best thing,” says Pederson.  That’s when Ike was enrolled in dog obedience in Sparta, as well as a dog therapy class in Onalaska.  He passed with flying colors and started his therapy work at Forrest Street Elementary School with a program called, “Reading with Rover” where he listened while children read to him.  Ike also visits the nursing homes in Black River Falls. 

“I have some wonderful stories from my visits, people love to see dogs and tell you about theirs,” says Pederson.  “One day when we were making our rounds, we stopped in to see a man who had spent several weeks in the hospital.  I came in his room and he was on the phone, so I waved to him and started to move on.  He called me back and said to the person on the phone, ‘Ike is here, I’ll call you back later.’  That tells me the therapy program is working,” Pederson says.  Ike is still settling into this new environment and is sometimes overwhelmed with new sounds and faces, but Pederson is hopeful he will get more and more comfortable as time goes on.

Pederson says, “There is still a great need for the friendly therapy that a pet can give to patients. I only visit the hospital one day a week; there are six other days that need therapy dogs.”  She would encourage anyone who has a great dog to consider enrolling in this volunteer program. “I have really enjoyed being a part of this wonderful program at Black River Memorial Hospital and look forward to many more years of pet therapy here,” says Pederson. 

If you’d like more information on the pet therapy program, contact Kelsi at 284-1337.