Dr. Ellis Dixon is benefiting from CPT’s private lesson program in preparing his rescue Great Pyrenees, Clarice, to become a full-time therapy dog at Egleston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Dixon is a sedation physician. Unfortunately, the application of sedatives, as well as the forthcoming medical procedure, often causes noticeable anxiety to Egleston’s pediatric patients. Therefore, Dr. Dixon plans for Clarice to function as a canine pre-sedative that relaxes his juvenile patients.
Clarice has learned all her basic obedience commands and is now receiving conditioning exposure on MARTA and at the hospital. Dr. Dixon reports that a MARTA driver recently commented, “That is a very well behaved dog.” In addition, the AFLAC sedation nursing staff loves Clarice. Most importantly, Dr. Dixon reported that “a little girl getting her port accessed for sedation prior to a CT scan stopped crying when Clarice came toward her.”
(Atlanta, GA)
