Caring canine set to retire after 10 years

South Osborne

A beloved local therapy dog is hanging up her bandana after 10 years of service.

Squeaker, a 12-year-old Labrador retriever, has been visiting seniors at Poseidon Long-Term Care Home for over a decade – well before her mom, Suz Shiells, had any intention of raising a therapy dog.

“I would bring Squeaker to visit my granny, who was living here… we would stop traffic in the middle of the hallways because everyone would want to say hello,” Shiells recounted during a conversation at the care home as her aptly named pooch squeaked happily between us.

This natural connection between her dog and the residents prompted Shiells to make if official and get Squeaker certified through St. John Ambulance.

Therapy dogs provide emotional and psychological support to people in a variety of community settings. To be certified for SJA’s volunteer program, dogs and their handlers are evaluated to ensure they can successfully navigate various situations and challenges common in health-care facilities, according to SJA’s website.

For the entirety of Squeaker’s career, Shiells has worked closely with Poseidon’s recreation manager, Mike Crosby. He organized the sessions such that every week they visited a different floor, often starting in common areas before visiting other residents individually in their rooms.

“On her really popular floors everyone crowds and we make a big circle… Squeaker just runs around visiting all of them back and forth and round in circles getting pets from everybody and it’s just a big community conversation,” Shiells said.

Crosby said residents have benefited greatly from their interactions with Squeaker, deriving not just comfort but hope from her presence.

“That kind of continuity, that level of service over such a large span of time – it tends to give people hope… the sense that things can keep going OK,” Crosby said.

Shiells tenderly recalled a particularly rewarding interaction between Squeaker and a new resident who was going through a tough time. Seeing and cuddling with Squeaker brought instant relief to both the resident and the resident’s daughter, who was also there at the time.

“The daughter started to cry… tears of joy because she saw her mom just settling and smiling… that was one of the biggest moments where Squeaker just instantly changed someone’s day.”

Also memorable have been the many birthday parties held for Squeaker at the care home, Crosby and Shiells said. The last one, in January, will double as a retirement party.