MARSHFIELD, Wis. (WSAW) – There’s a celebrity walking the halls of Marshfield Children’s Hospital, but she’s walking on four legs. Dolly Pawton’s handlers say she has been trained since she was a puppy to work in a medical facility.
“She is here to provide support to our patients, do meaningful interventions, and really try and do that goal-oriented work with our patients,” said McKenzie Tischauser, a Certified Childlife Specialist at Marshfield Children’s explained.
Dolly is a facility dog. That’s different than therapy dogs, who visit patients at the hospital a couple of hours a week. Dolly pretty much works a 9-to-5, arriving with her handler at 8 a.m. and leaving at 4:30 p.m. Her handlers say that therapy dogs are pets first, while Dolly is a service dog. In the months she’s been working at the hospital, she’s made a big difference in the lives of the young patients she works with.
“Dolly’s been great at getting kids out of bed, walking, talking, moving, doing what the physical therapist and occupational therapist need them to do,” Tischauser said. “We kind of utilize her in a way that makes it super fun for them.”
Dolly has various jobs at the hospital. “She comes with me to visit patients when they’re having IV starts, CT scans, things that might be scary for kids,” Certified Childlife Specialist Lindsey Welch said. Tischauser added that she’s been a big help with teenage patients, “I can’t even put into words the things that she’s done with our teenage population. They’re more likely to work with us, do interventions with us, do more emotional expression work.”
It’s a big job for one dog, but her humans say Dolly is up to snuff.
“I don’t think anybody really understood the impact she could have until you could see it first-hand,” Welch said. “We have so many patients that you walk into the room, and their whole demeanor changes when she’s there with them.”
Marshfield Children’s Hospital has Dolly thanks to funds raised by the ‘Christmas in July’ charity. Because she is a living animal, Dolly has continuing expenses. You can make a donation to help support Dolly.
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