{"id":11674,"date":"2017-08-23T10:06:08","date_gmt":"2017-08-23T16:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=11674"},"modified":"2023-09-01T12:05:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T18:05:10","slug":"love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\/","title":{"rendered":"Love patrol: therapy dog cheers mom on standby"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_11678\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11678\" style=\"width: 660px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11678\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031138\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized1.webp\" alt=\"Marta, a therapy dog at University of Colorado Hospital, and her owner, Louella Stoever, visit with patient Kate Buffington.\" width=\"660\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031138\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized1.webp 1200w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031138\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized1-300x199.webp 300w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031138\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized1-1024x680.webp 1024w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031138\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized1-768x510.webp 768w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031138\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized1-150x100.webp 150w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031138\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized1-200x133.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11678\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marta, a therapy dog at University of Colorado Hospital, was rescued as a puppy and now lets anyone pet her. Marta and her owner, Louella Stoever, recently visited with Kate Buffington. Photo by UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kate Buffington never expected to be in a hospital.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s supposed to be starting the school year with her students in Fort Collins. She\u2019s a special education teacher who supports students throughout the Poudre School District who are deaf and hard of hearing.<div class=\"su-callout-box col-xs-6 col-sm-6 right\" style=\"background-color:#dce4e7; color:#2e3b44;\">\n<p><strong>Get involved<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The University of Colorado Hospital needs more therapy dogs and volunteer owners.<\/p>\n<p>The dogs must be certified through one of the following programs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.therapydogs.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alliance of Therapy Dogs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chhs.colostate.edu\/habic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colorado State University\u2019s Human Animal Bonds in Colorado (HABIC)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpetpartners.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Denver Pet Partners<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information about volunteering, please contact Jenny Ricklefs at <a href=\"mailto:jennifer.ricklefs@uchealth.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">jennifer.ricklefs@uchealth.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At home, she has a 4-year-old son, Logan, who loves Spider Man, her husband, Marc, a border collie, Ty, and a fish named Kenny. She thinks for a moment of Kenny and wonders if anyone is remembering to feed the fish. All of them must manage without her for a while because Kate, 34, has a special mission now.<\/p>\n<p>Her job is to be as calm as possible here on the labor and delivery floor. She\u2019s trying to be Zen so she can keep her twins cocooned inside her belly for as long as possible.<\/p>\n<p>As Logan explained it, \u201cMommy, you need to be with the babies and the doctors right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kate and her husband are expecting a boy and a girl. Their due date was November 27. But, their daughter\u2019s amniotic sac ruptured when Kate was just 25 weeks pregnant in mid-August. Kate raced to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-poudre-valley-hospital\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UCHealth\u2019s Poudre Valley Hospital<\/a>, but doctors there can\u2019t care for premature babies as tiny as 25-weekers. So they flew Kate to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-university-of-colorado-hospital-uch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UCHealth\u2019s University of Colorado Hospital<\/a> in Aurora.\u00a0 Remarkably, her baby girl can thrive without an amniotic sac. Her placenta is healthy. Both babies are being monitored and are doing well. So Kate\u2019s job is to stay pregnant as long as possible. If she can make it to 34 weeks in mid-October, the babies will do much better.<\/p>\n<p>That means she must be still and wait and be still some more.<\/p>\n<p>All this chilling out sounds nice for a busy mom, but it can also be lonely and a little boring.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_11679\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11679\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11679 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031151\/Marta-wearing-her-ID-shakes-hands-sized.1.webp\" alt=\"Marta, a therapy dog at University of Colorado Hospital, is shown shaking a paw.\" width=\"640\" height=\"964\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031151\/Marta-wearing-her-ID-shakes-hands-sized.1.webp 664w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031151\/Marta-wearing-her-ID-shakes-hands-sized.1-199x300.webp 199w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031151\/Marta-wearing-her-ID-shakes-hands-sized.1-100x150.webp 100w, https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/23031151\/Marta-wearing-her-ID-shakes-hands-sized.1-200x301.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11679\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marta, a therapy dog at University of Colorado, wears a ruffle and her work ID. Photo by UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That\u2019s where Marta enters the picture.<\/p>\n<p>Marta did not have an easy start in life. She\u2019s an 8-year-old black Schnauzer, who was rescued from a pet hoarder\u2019s home. There were 150 dogs in the home and Marta barked and barked when her new owner, Louella Stoever, rescued her back in 2009 when she was just four months old.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019d never know that Marta ever had any tough times. As a therapy dog who visits patients at University of Colorado Hospital once a week, Marta is all business. And her business is love. She wears her proper work ID. (She actually has an official employee ID. And, yes, she must clock in and out to record her hours.) She also wears custom ruffles that Louella sews. This week, Marta is sporting a red, white and blue ruffle to display her patriotism. She lets anyone who wants to greet her touch her and fawn over her and get some laughs.<\/p>\n<p>In Kate\u2019s room, Marta hops up on the couch as Louella and Kate chat. Marta licks Kate\u2019s arm as Kate describes her own rescue dog at home. Marta snuggles and gives Kate kisses on the nose. Louella is a retired teacher, who taught for 28 years, many of them at University of New Mexico Children\u2019s Hospital in Albuquerque. Kate has taught for 11 years, eight of them in For Collins. She and Louella trade teaching stories and Kate tells her how some of her students have been making cards for her to let her know they miss her.<\/p>\n<p>With this little moment of love and humanity, Kate gets a break from the medical talk and the worries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have an everyday experience and to pet a dog,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She thinks of her blessings and tears flow for a moment or two.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have the best family and friends. It\u2019s crazy to be here, but we\u2019re really hopeful,\u201d she said. \u201cEven though it\u2019s not ideal, hopefully I can make it to 34 weeks. I\u2019m really thankful that we\u2019ve had so much love and support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it\u2019s time to go, Marta gives Kate one more lick and jumps down from the couch. She and Louella promise they\u2019ll be back. Since Kate will be here for a while, Marta can be her temporary pet pal.<\/p>\n<p>Louella spends a full morning with Marta every week visiting patients throughout the hospital. She regularly visits two cardiology units, the surgical waiting area and the antenatal floor where pregnant women like Kate receive care. Sometimes patients request a visit from a therapy dog. Marta always breaks the ice and Louella loves chatting with everyone. She makes a special point of spending time with people who are alone and have no family members. No matter whom she sees, she knows that she\u2019s bringing some warmth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least once a day and usually more than that, I get told that this was the best thing that happened all day,\u201d Louella said. \u201cIt\u2019s very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jenny Ricklefs manages the therapy dog volunteers for University of Colorado Hospital. The program is called Therapy Trails. All dogs are trained and certified. Marta is certified through a group called the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.therapydogs.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alliance of Therapy Dogs<\/a>. They can also be trained through a Colorado State University program called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chhs.colostate.edu\/habic\">Human-Animal Bonds in Colorado<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpetpartners.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Denver Pet Partners<\/a>. Along with Marta, some of the other dogs at University of Colorado Hospital include Julep, Jiggs, Auggie, Ebony, Rocky and Monty.<\/p>\n<p>Together, they provide a roaming love patrol.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s something about that animal-human bond,\u201d Jenny says. \u201cThey bring heart to the care that our patients get. We do really good medicine here. This is a way to care for the whole person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kate Buffington never expected to be in a hospital. She\u2019s supposed to be starting the school year with her students in Fort Collins. She\u2019s a special education teacher who supports students throughout the Poudre School District who are deaf and hard of hearing. At home, she has a 4-year-old son, Logan, who loves Spider Man, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2123,"featured_media":11663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1497,171],"class_list":["post-11674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-uchealth-university-of-colorado-hospital","tag-volunteer-services"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Love patrol: therapy dog cheers mom on standby - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kate Buffington never expected to be in a hospital. She\u2019s supposed to be starting the school year with her students in Fort Collins. She\u2019s a special education teacher who supports students throughout the Poudre School District who are deaf and hard of hearing. At home, she ha...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love patrol: therapy dog cheers mom on standby\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kate Buffington never expected to be in a hospital. She\u2019s supposed to be starting the school year with her students in Fort Collins. She\u2019s a special education teacher who supports students throughout the Poudre School District who are deaf and hard of hearing. At home, she has a 4-year-old son, Logan, who loves Spider Man, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-23T16:06:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-01T18:05:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/08\/21232958\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Kerwin McCrimmon, UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d43cd81d6f8e440a3e496f8a012c68e9\"},\"headline\":\"Love patrol: therapy dog cheers mom on standby\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-23T16:06:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-01T18:05:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1087,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/21232958\\\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital\",\"Volunteer services\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/\",\"name\":\"Love patrol: therapy dog cheers mom on standby - UCHealth Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/21232958\\\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-23T16:06:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-01T18:05:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.uchealth.org\\\/today\\\/love-patrol-therapy-dog-cheers-mom-standby\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/21232958\\\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2017\\\/08\\\/21232958\\\/Marta-the-dog-visits-Kate-sized.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":797,\"caption\":\"Marta, a therapy dog at University of Colorado Hospital, was rescued as a puppy and now lets anyone pet her. 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