you brought a lump to my throat , can just picture it . every day i take our dylan and willow ,to my mom and dads .they are nearly 80 my moms more active than dad .my dad has illness that has taken his speach and his movement is very slow and getting worse .i take the dogs up most days . our dylan walks in straight up to dad ,like you say about the old chap in the home ,my dads face light up like a xmas tree ,when he see them both walk in . dylan sits by him offers his paw .dad loves to sit stroking his head .he cant say a lot with his speach ,but his face says it all .animals do have a way with old people . i walk up to moms all the oldies wave through the window to me .with the two collies in tow allso takeing them into the homes(old folks ) it brightens the day ,some of the old folk there .have had dogs all there life ill bet .

We took Paws one of our Rott boys to Crufts and he is a total crowd pleaser and had kids crawling all over him. I was approached by a chap who was patrolling Crufts looking for potential PAT dogs and he gave me all the paperwork and asked me to fill it in. Sadly with the hours I work It isn't practical for me to commit to the scheme which I deeply regret as Paws is such a people dog and would bring so much joy to so many

Oh that is so beautiful! I've such a lump in my throat now...... x

that brought tears to my eyes. what a wonderful thing you do, bringing some comfort to those.
sorry cant type any more got to wipe my eyes.

Special guys, each and everyone x

Bringing joy to old/sick ppl is good but you don't just deal with adults.

I used to take Toby to the kids cancer ward in our local hospital.
His height was a big advantage as he could stand at the side of the bed bound kids that wanted to stroke him.

If you have alot of homes around you they might use the PAT scheme not all do put i think that it mostly down to that they don't know what it is.

When join and speak to your area coordinator he/ she will give you a list of places in your area that have requested a PAT animal to visit you make contact and you go from there.

For those of you that take it up it is very rewarding that other ppl get pleasure from your dog and it brightens their day just alittle makes it all worth while.

fab post

Amazing what a good cuddle can do. What a moment.

thanks everyone for all these replies x

What a lovely story. Broke my heart, lots of tears here but how lovely to be able to bring a smile to that face. My grandad suffers with depression and me taking our dogs over to see him had a huge impact too. He had been down for a few months but my dad says our visit really cheered him up. I was worried our big silly dogs would be a bit rough but they were fantastic, i think they sense when its best to be gentle around people. I was so proud. Well done to all of you who are looking into doing it with your dogs, such a lovely thing to be able to do for someone.