So, we had a few visits in October and November to the University of Iowa College of Law, where Jock provided much needed stress relief for future lawyers in the midst of their fall semester midterms and preparations for finals.
The students often get down on the floor with him. I usually have a towel for him to sit on, but he moves off it, as he sees fit, if he needs to cuddle up with someone.
He really seems to enjoy our visits to the law school. He usually has "repeat visitors" that love getting down on the floor and sitting with him for a few minutes, as time allows between classes. He also seems to have a "Corgi Fan Club" because there are a number of law students who LOVE Corgis.
We even had a visit one day, when a bunch of students had called over one of their professors (in between classes) to introduce him to Jock. This particular professor actually got down on the floor - flat out on his back! - to get a selfie with Jock. He was excitedly uttering, "OMG, it's a Corgi! We have a Corgi here! I've got to get a pic!" SO FUNNY!
I was impressed, though. I guess I think of law professors as being straight-laced, in suits (or other very lawyerly outfits), and being quite stern or serious - not the kind of person in a nice sweater and corduroy pants, who laughs a lot and gets down on the floor with the visiting therapy dog.
We weren't able to get out there during December, while they have finals. We will be back during the spring semester, though. I'm looking forward to it, because the students and faculty/staff appreciate it so much. They get so excited!
Jock and I also do regular visits, about once a week, to a local assisted living facility. We actually volunteer through a hospice service, who placed us with a few patients at this particular nearby facility. At this point, we're down to one patient assigned to us, with whom we visit once a week. We also stop and say hi to a few staff members who like to greet Jock as we walk down the halls.
They usually have seasonal decorations both inside and outside the facility. I usually try to get a pic of Jock next to one of their cute decorations, when the seasons change.
And lastly, Jock and I have an interview of sorts at the University of Iowa (UI) Stead Family Children's Hospital in January. I've been wanting to take him to visit a pediatric ward at the local hospital, but they apparently have a wait list or something at the two local hospitals. And the one has very limited hours in which they allow therapy animal visits (during the evenings when I'm busy taking my daughter to extracurricular activities).
So I reached out to the UI Children's Hospital, to see if Jock and I can start volunteering there. They actually have a therapy animal program called "Furry Friends," where they have therapy animal volunteers come in on a regular basis to visit with the kids in the hospital.
There is a detailed process to become a therapy animal team with the "Furry Friends" program, including a detailed application, background check, some training, and this interview.
So, hopefully, we'll be able to start volunteering to cheer up the children at the hospital early in the new year! Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't take too long before Jock starts brightening these kids' days.
Okay, that's it for now. Hopefully, I can do these therapy visit updates a little more regularly, and they won't all be this long.
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