EVERETT — It was a day that went to the dogs.
A featured speaker was late. It was getting hot.
Yet the more than 50 people waiting in the chapel didn’t seem to mind.
They were curious about the dogs.
On Thursday, Denney Austin was installed as the new chief executive officer of Bethany of the Northwest at Bethany’s chapel at Providence Hospital’s Pacific campus in Everett. Bethany operates nursing homes in Everett.
Even though he’s an administrator, dogs are a part of Austin’s work. Known as “therapy dogs,” they help to improve the quality of life for people living in nursing homes. So Austin’s greyhound, a former race dog named Hondah, came to the celebration, along with another therapy dog, Sadie, a happy Rottweiler-Irish setter mix.
Ordinary dogs would have eaten the two cakes at the back of the room. But Hondah and Sadie have manners and privileges other dogs don’t.
Hondah, a jet-black greyhound with a tuxedo-shirtlike white patch of fur on her chest, sat elegantly to Austin’s left. She also sported a purple bandana around her neck.
Grinning, Austin walked to her.
“Did you know that greyhounds are the only dogs mentioned in the Bible?” he asked the onlookers.
Hondah has worked with Austin as a therapy dog for the past six years. Austin has worked with people in long-term care for most of his career.
He started using therapy dogs in the early 1990s after he rescued a whippet named Cricket. He saw the way people he worked with in the nursing home would smile, their eyes lighting up, when they saw the dog.
On most days, when Austin doesn’t have meetings, Hondah accompanies him on his rounds at Bethany.
“Dogs are important. They’re especially important here,” he said.
Austin adopted Hondah from a greyhound rescue organization in Seattle. Now, she provides comfort and nudges smiles from aging people who often leave pets behind when they move into nursing homes. The dogs help people feel more at home.
It was obvious the effect Hondah had on Yvonne White, who has lived at Bethany Northwest for about two years. White, 81, attended the celebration. As she stroked Hondah’s neck, she smiled gently.
White said she remembers the day she met Hondah and Austin. She was driving her motorized wheelchair outside. She saw Austin getting out of his car accompanied by Hondah.
“I thought she was a really nice dog,” White said.
Austin serves on the state board of Pioneer Network, an organization that works to create a homelike environment for nursing home residents and staff members. Dogs play an important role in those efforts, Austin said.
When most people think of service dogs, they think of guide dogs who work with the blind. More and more, however, dogs are being used as therapy and psychological service dogs, where they provide comfort, a sense of calm or even remind people to take their medications. Some dogs even can detect anxiety or the first stages of a heart attack.
Bellevue-based Delta Society is a local organization that helps people with mental and physical disabilities find professionally trained therapy dogs, Austin said. The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require that therapy dogs be trained or certified.
In Washington, dogs only need to be loving and well-behaved, and to have their shots up-to-date, to work in a nursing home.
With Austin and Hondah now at Bethany, residents feel more at home. Even in the dog days of summer.
Reporter Leita Hermanson Crossfield: 425-339-3449 or lcrossfield@heraldnet.com.
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