Mary Bridge’s Newest Employees Have Four Legs and Very Important Jobs

The newest members of the care team at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital have four legs, soft fur and a remarkable ability to make a frightening day feel a little less frightening.

Their names are Filmore and Langley, and they are specially trained facility dogs joining the Tacoma children’s hospital to support young patients, their families and the professionals caring for them.

They are unquestionably adorable. But this isn’t simply a case of bringing friendly dogs into the hospital for occasional visits.

Facility dogs are working animals trained to perform alongside healthcare professionals. They can help calm children before procedures, provide comfort during difficult treatments, encourage patients working through rehabilitation and offer a reassuring presence during long hospital stays.

That assistance can be especially valuable in a children’s hospital, where an unfamiliar room, intimidating equipment or painful procedure may be overwhelming for a young patient.

A dog can help redirect a child’s attention, demonstrate a position the patient is being asked to assume or simply remain close while the child receives treatment. Because the dogs work with trained hospital employees, their involvement can be incorporated into a patient’s care rather than limited to a social visit.

Filmore and Langley arrive with serious preparation behind those wagging tails. The two dogs participated in team training through Canine Companions, a nonprofit that trains and places assistance dogs. The organization’s dogs learn dozens of commands before being matched with the people who will work alongside them.

Their training also prepares them for the unusual environment of a busy hospital: rolling equipment, sudden noises, crowded hallways and interactions with children experiencing a wide range of emotions and medical conditions.

The pair joins an established facility-dog program at Mary Bridge.

For years, Olaf has worked alongside child-life specialist Kristen Bishop, helping children through chemotherapy infusions, procedures and other difficult moments. According to Mary Bridge’s introduction to Olaf, he completed an intensive two-year training program before beginning work with pediatric patients.

As Olaf approaches his 10th birthday, Filmore and Langley represent the next chapter of that program—and give the hospital additional canine support to share among its young patients.

The distinction between a facility dog and a visiting therapy dog is important. Therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers generally visit hospitals to offer affection and companionship. Facility dogs work consistently with professionals at a particular organization and may participate in goal-oriented care.

That could mean accompanying a nervous child into a treatment room, helping motivate a patient to get out of bed or remaining beside someone who needs a calm, nonjudgmental friend.

Dogs, after all, do not wear white coats. They do not ask complicated questions. They do not mind if someone is frightened, frustrated or simply having a terrible day.

The qualities that make facility dogs effective are often wonderfully uncomplicated: they are loving, silly and they don’t judge.

For children facing some of the hardest experiences imaginable, that can be a very important kind of medicine.

And now Mary Bridge has two more specialists ready to provide it.