I am a community visitor volunteer. I visit 4 homes per week (one twice per week). The thing that I enjoy the most is taking my greyhounds into the homes and seeing how the residents get so much joy from the visits. I have 3 greyhounds but I only take 2 hounds visiting, but I do swap one over on a Wednesday. One of the males will stat home and the female will come with us. She only does a Wednesday visit due to anxiety, but she loves the person we visit on the Wednesday.
Dogs and cats are such a lovely addition to aged care. I started my nursing career via bringing my then 2 year old dalmatian dog Perdi into my local facility as a volunteer. She passed all the necessary training and the residents absolutely adored her. She too, loved the attention and would zero in on those who were really having a bad day. I ended up getting a part time job at the same facility as an AIN. They have 2 cats (Zorro and Pebbles.) whom are situated in the dementia ward. They are so gentle and loving. They often would sneak through to the other ward where I worked the majority of my overnight shifts to keep me company . ^~^. Sadly? I could not stand the absolute abysmal state of the aged care sector and am now doing a diploma of nursing to get a hospital job. If I got paid to bring joy to residents as a canine handler? I'd do so in a heartbeat.
