One of the patients of the Philippine Children's Medical Center pets Dr. Adonis, one of only two native dogs in the program.

Dr. Adonis is one of the most trusted “doctors’’ at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, the National Children’s Hospital, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center.

He is also famous at institutions like the Philippine Cerebral Palsy, Inc., Tahanan na Walang Hagdanan, and several special education schools in Metro Manila where children always look forward to his “house calls.’’

But Dr. Adonis is neither a real doctor nor a human being. Dr. Adonis is a dog, a native dog to be precise!

DOGS AS DOCTORS?

Dr. Adonis is one of the eight Dr. Dogs of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a program initiative of the Hongkong-based Animals Asia Foundation founded by Jill Robinson. Under PAWS founder Nita Hontiveros Lichauco, the Dr. Dog program was integrated into the organization in 1997.

While the Dr. Dog program was initially intended to promote kindness to canines, especially in dog-eating countries like the Philippines, it has also showed the world that dogs can be valuable in animal-assisted therapy (AAT), especially for sick children or those who have special needs.

AAT is a type of therapy that involves animals with specific characteristics, such as horses, dolphins, or dogs, to help in a person’s treatment. AAT helps improve a person’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive function, as well as provide educational and motivational purposes for its participants.

“The concept of Dr. Dog is much like that of the story of Patch Adams who believed that laughter could be a good medicine. When you think of laughter, there is no drug involved with it. However, there’s this effect on the people because of the emotional aspect,” explains PAWS program director Anna Cabrera. “It’s the same principle. The Dr. Dogs work best with individuals like children who are shy, sick or have special needs. If you’re a doctor, you need to employ certain things to get them to communicate with you. But when we put in our Dr. Dogs, the effect is immediate.”

But not all dogs can be doctors. They should pass the temperament test conducted by an animal behavioral specialist, must have a clean bill of health from PAWS’ resident veterinarian, and must also be spayed or neutered, another advocacy that PAWS strongly supports.

“We are very strict in screening dogs because the last thing we would want to do is traumatize the kid. Kailangan kahit anong gawin mo sa aso, it won’t bite or growl. No sign of aggression.

These dogs can sit down quietly with a patient,” Cabrera explains.

OPENING CHILDREN UP

During the first years of the Dr. Dog program, no hospital would allow them to enter their facilities, even labelling dogs as dirty and germ-packed.

PAWS thus turned its attention to special institutions and schools — both for regular and special needs children.

HOPE School for special children in Parañaque, for instance, had one of the most memorable experiences with PAWS’ first two Dr. Dogs — Pako, a German Shepherd and Dr. Freckles, a Dalmatian.

“When we brought in the dog, there was one particular kid who started to talk to one of the dogs,” Cabrera recalls.

For Dr. Dog volunteers, it was a normal reaction by a child to an animal. But to their surprise, they found out from the teachers that the boy had not spoken a word to anyone since the start of the school year.

“Kung sino ‘yung hindi ma-reach ng teachers or specialist, the dog was able to open up the child,” Cabrera exclaims.

Cabrera, who is also a licensed trainer, explains that children see these dogs as non-threatening and unbiased. So when the dogs approach them, they feel at ease. “When we bring in the dog, we don’t even need to speak because the children play with them immediately. So after that, that boy eventually progressed and spoke. The child actually asked for a dog from his parents,” she enthuses.

In 2004, Dr. Dog started to make the rounds of hospitals, including the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital, Philippine General Hospital, AFP Medical Center.

Cabrera says that one of the hardest parts is visiting terminally-ill children. “It’s sad for us kasi the next time we visit, wala na ‘yung bata. But it’s very significant that during the last days of the child’s life, we are able to bring them joy.”

The dogs also visit physical rehabilitation centers where they help patients recover through play instead of just the boring exercises.

“May repetitive exercise sila na boring sa bata so ginagawa namin instead of picking up something for many times, ipa-fetch sa dog.

So feeling nung bata, hindi therapy, akala niya, laro, which is actually the concept of play therapy,” Cabrera relates.

HOPING FOR MORE SMILES

Currently there are eight Dr. Dogs in the program, two of which are native dogs and the rest are pure breeds. All of the Dr. Dogs have private owners who are also volunteers of the program.

“The volunteers of the Dr. Dog are very dedicated, even if we don’t have a budget for it. But since it is volunteer-based, the schedule depends on the volunteers,” she explains.

The program only goes to a hospital or an institution once every two or three months.

“‘Yung mga volunteers nagrereklamo rin because they want to do it more often but the main obstacle of this program is that it is totally run by volunteers. Most hospitals request for a weekday and most of the volunteers have work on a weekday. So very few dogs ang nakakarounds.

Cabrera hopes that they get more support to continue the program.

“One theory of the program is for one brief moment, these kids are kids again. Usually they don’t feel like kids anymore because they are in and out of the hospital, hindi na kasi sila nakapaglalaro eh, hindi na nakakalabas. Pero when we come in it’s just the dog and them,” Cabrera ends.