Helping Dudley

By Patty Mintz

Calendar centerfold; surfer dude; beach bum; lover of people; therapy dog. That’s Dudley, a six-year-old Pomeranian-Pekingese who has volunteered as a visiting pet at the Hants Community Hospital for almost five years.

In a world filled with all types of canines, Dudley is truly a gem: smart, charming, intuitive, empathetic and selfless, says his owner, Joyce Norris of Windsor, a retired Registered Nurse. “One vet told me he thought Dudley has the intelligence of a human three-year-old. I speak to him in full sentences…he understands everything that is said to him, believe me.”

The hundreds of people who have met ‘the waving dog’ since Norris adopted him as a puppy, aren’t likely to argue.

Not only does Dudley have a gift for making people laugh and feel good – he’s famous for waving his front paws in a gesture of friendship – his demeanour warms hearts and sometimes brings tears. “Once in the hospital lobby on the way to the ward, I saw a lady coming toward us,” recalls Norris. “Dudley was very insistent on stopping. The woman took one look at Dudley, who was smiling and waving at her, and burst into tears. She asked if she could hold him and cried on him and held him for a good 10 minutes. Dudley responded by nuzzling her face, holding her hand and giving her lots of kisses. “When she handed him back, she said he was just what she needed; that God must have put him in her path that day. She had a very sick family member and was very upset. She said Dudley was an amazing gift from God.”

Special power

At an early age, says Norris, it was evident her pet had a special healing power. “Dudley started working as a Visiting Pet/Therapy Dog when he was about a year old. We started at the Veteran’s Memorial Hospital in Halifax and have been visiting at Haliburton Place in the Hants Community Hospital every second Sunday since May 2003.”

Norris, who is single and has no living immediate family, depends on Dudley for companionship and mental lift. She has struggled for 11 years with a seriously disabling connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She has many stories that testify to her pet’s power to inspire, including her own.

Chronic pain, fatigue, depression and a diagnosis of breast cancer are all a little easier to handle thanks to Dudley. “All I have to say is, ‘Dudley, Joyce needs you’, and he comes running. I pick him up and have a good schmooze.” She has even trained her companion to lay on her back to help soothe her back pain.

The little dog’s ability to connect to humans, whether healthy or ill, is uncanny, says Norris. “At one hospital, he saw a lady with Alzheimer’s who apparently had very little physical or verbal response to anything. But when she saw Dudley and I put him on her lap, her face lit up and she cuddled him for quite a while. When I turned to leave, a staff member accompanying us had tears in her eyes and said it was the most response that lady had shown in at least six months.”

Norris says what Dudley has and does, “no one can teach a dog. I’ve only provided transportation and encouragement.”

Lately, Norris has done a lot of thinking about Dudley and what he means to her and so many others. That’s because just before Christmas, the lively little Pom-A-Peke was found to have lymphatic cancer.

Devastating news “It’s been absolutely devastating news to say the least. I have spent most of the last three weeks crying over thoughts of losing him. I don't know that I could deal with my chronic health problems without him,” says Norris. “It’s constantly overwhelming physically and emotionally.”

To add to her sorrow, Norris has discovered that chemotherapy, which could save her pet’s life, will cost over $5,000, a price that would be financially ruinous considering her modest disability pension.

Dudley isn’t showing outward signs of his illness yet, but left untreated the prognosis isn’t good: he probably has only one to three months left to live.

With no other option, Norris is asking for help. She is hoping that those who know Dudley and about his amazing abilities will donate toward his veterinarian costs. Norris acknowledges it isn’t easy to ask such a thing, but she’s compelled. “He has given so much to me, so willingly, I don't think I could live with myself if I could extend his life and didn't try everything possible to do it,” Norris said. “Dudley deserves a chance to have his life. He gives of himself freely and unabashedly,” and contributes to the community to a degree many people do not.

Norris is planning to post photos and information on MySpace.

For anyone who would like to help in any way, she can be reached at 902-798-2345, or via e-mail at whuzzy@ns.sympatico.ca, or contact the Richardson Animal Hospital at 902-865-8110.

However painful Dudley’s situation is to Norris, she enjoys reflecting on happier times. “One funny story is when we went to New Brunswick to stay with my friend and we all went to the lake. One of the kids thought it would be fun to put him on the boogie board and see what happened. Dudley stood on it and let people lead him around. He loved it! Only problem was, every time someone took him to shore he’d screech to get put back on the board. So, taking turns, one of us led him around for the entire afternoon.”