Therapy dog hard at work at local hospital
By Mary Pritchard Contributing Writer

(l to r) Emma Keeley, 2, and her brother Owen, 3, of Shrewsbury have fun with their dog Lily. Lily is a therapy dog at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital in Westborough. PHOTO/MARY PRITCHARD

Region - Lily spends most of her days at home keeping up with two young children, and also manages to hold down a parttime job, seeing up to 10 or more patients a day at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital in Westborough.

What makes that unusual is that Lily is a dog.

Lily's owner, Lynn Keeley of Shrewsbury, began working as a recreation thera- pist at Whittier about 10 years ago. Just a few years out of college and living with her parents, Lynn used to bring the family dog, Sam, to work with her. Sam became a therapy dog and worked with patients. Eventually Sam was too old for the work and retired.

About two years later, Lynn, who was now married, brought home a puppy as a surprise gift for her husband, Brian. Since the couple already had one dog, Lynn wanted to ensure that they had a well-behaved dog and she spent an hour each morning practicing obedience training with Lily.

After Lynn became director of performance improvement at the hospital and Lily did very well in her obedience training, Lynn decided to have Lily tested and certified as an official therapy dog through Therapy Dogs International. Lily also passed the Canine Good Citizen Test.

Lily then spent two weeks working with Amanda Tanaka, the current recreational therapist at Whittier, to get familiar with Tanaka's voice and to get accustomed to taking commands from her, before she began seeing patients.

For the past two years, Lily has been working two days a week at the hospital. She participates in group and individual therapy. She has also done outpatient and pediatric work. She works an eight-hour day with a one-hour lunch break, which she spends on her dog bed in Lynn's office.

According to Lynn, the 4-year-old chocolate lab is exhausted after her day at work.

Lynn said that although she feels all dogs have a special sense about people's needs, Lily seems to be especially in tune with her patients.

"She knows when she is on the job, she has an amazing sense, and somehow knows what areas people need to work on. If the patient needs therapy for their arm, she naturally is drawn to that arm," Lynn said. "Lily knows when to be calm and gentle, and when she can play. She is also that way at home with our children; she is a very patient dog."

Lynn said that the Arcidi family, the owners of Whittier, recognize that pets benefit the patients and staff at the hospital.

"We had a man who wouldn't get out of bed for two weeks. He finally got out of bed for Lily," Lynn said. "She not only brings joy to the patients, but to the staff too. She has her routine in the morning of visiting the maintenance director Rich Napolitano in his office for a greeting and a hug. Staff members know Lily's break time and visit Lily during their own breaks."