Sherry and Stu Galka of Mother Lode K-9
Pictured with Kallie, TDIEVA; Schoena, TDIEVA; and Tarra, TDIAOV
Therapy Dogs Bring The Love
By Suzy Hopkins
As the dogs arrive there's a sense of excitement in the room, an awakening. Smiles, outstretched arms and murmurs of welcome greet the dogs and their handlers, who have interrupted a droning TV show to the delight of the white-haired crowd.
Soon the visitors — labs and poodles, terriers and retrievers, purebreds and mutts -- are working their magic.
Hands stroke the soft fur, conversations begin, and stories emerge of much-loved childhood companions who come alive in rekindled memories.
"They talk a lot about where they lived, the kind of dogs they had," says Stu Galka, who with his wife Sherry is the galvanizing force behind a growing therapy-dog network in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties. "When they see a dog like one they used to have, it really lifts their spirits."
The dogs not only listen to the residents' stories, but are on the receiving end of some serious affection from folks who sometimes go long stretches without visitors or physical contact.
"These people want to hug something, touch something that's alive," says Sherry Galka. "They do a lot of hugging and petting on these dogs."
It's no wonder. Dogs don't care if you've had a bad hair day. Or if you're in a wheelchair. Or have Alzheimer's, or any other mental or physical challenge. Those tails, whether seen or unseen, wag just the same for everyone.
"I have a couple of blind ladies that I'll walk up behind and say, 'Hi, I have little Nessie here,' and I'll put their hand on her head and Nessie in their lap," says Gloria Rucker, 75, a retired Sonora businesswoman who rescued the poodle four years ago. "You can't imagine the smile that comes across their faces."
Ten years ago, there were no therapy dog handlers in Tuolumne County. Today there are 60, thanks to the Galkas, high school sweethearts who've been married for 52-years.
Sherry and Stu first met in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they attended different high schools. She was in 10th grade when she decided to skip school and head for the lake with friends. Their car stalled halfway up a hill near his house. Stu walked over to ask if he could help.
"I knew he was a real gentleman, but I had a boyfriend at the time, so it was thank you and goodbye," Sherry recalls. "A couple months later, we started dating."
She'd always wanted a dog, but her parents would never allow it. He'd grown up with dogs. Wedding bells rang in 1956, and not long after, a neighbor gave the newlyweds a dachshund — and so it began. The Galkas visited a cousin who offered a Siberian Husky pup. Soon they had three and were going to dog shows. Just as their Dublin neighbors were beginning to look askance at the growing canine population, the Galkas discovered Tuolumne County, moving here in 1966.
Stu commuted to his job as a TWA pilot based at San Francisco International Airport, while Sherry worked as an insurance agent, then opened her own business. Weekends were spent with their two children, racing sled dog teams on the Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers circuit. At the peak of the family's racing career, they had 30 dogs in their home kennels. Sherry's childhood wish had been granted, and then some.
In 1972, the Galkas cofounded the Sierra-Tuolumne Kennel Club. Soon they were training their own and others' dogs in obedience and agility. Over the years they have trained an estimated 10,000 dogs and their owners — mostly their owners, Sherry points out.
In 1997, a therapy dog evaluator in Calaveras County sent them in a new direction. They formed Therapy Dogs of the Sierra, Chapter 186, and became certified through Therapy Dogs International to train other handlers and dogs. Since that time, they've trained more than 1,000 handlers, most in Northern California. Nationwide there are about 10,000 therapy dogs.
In addition to care homes, and hospital and skilled-nursing units, the local chapter's 60 handlers and their 70 therapy pets regularly visit hospice patients, schools, and programs for the developmentally disabled. Some even tag along with Meals on Wheels deliveries.
Others, like button-nosed Sadie, have office jobs. Her title is "Patient Representative," and it's true — she's very patient. Monday through Friday the pint-sized Pekingese greets patients at the door of Dr. Richard Munger's office on Delnero Drive, guiding them one by one to an open exam room.
"She can tell which room has a patient in it and which room doesn't," says Jane Munger, who works the front desk, under which Sadie snags the occasional nap. "A lot of people come in without appointments and want to play with Sadie. They'll say, 'Is Sadie here?' And I say, "What am I, chopped liver?"
They sometimes visit patients at nearby Avalon Care Center, where Sadie is a popular guest.
"She's so soft and cuddly, and they just love her," says Jane. "I've seen people smile, people cry, just basic joy, because some of them have no physical contact except for their bathing and getting dressed. But that's not like having a dog sit in your lap."
Another of the Galkas' students, Annemarie Greenberg, 73, started visiting care homes four years ago with dogs Kyah, Chili and Chiquita, after years spent caring for her late husband, who had Alzheimer's.
They regularly visit the Senior Lounge in downtown Sonora, and various assisted-living homes. Every Sunday she drives to Gold Ridge, an Alzheimer's and dementia care home in Soulsbyville, playing her accordion while the dogs visit with the residents.
"When they touch the dogs, it just makes them feel good," says Annemarie. It also makes her feel good. And as any handler will tell you, that positive feeling can be habit-forming.
Sherry Galka's first therapy dog, Shiloh, a golden retriever, tallied about 1,500 visits before she died. Their German Shepherd, Schoena, went on more than 500, and two others made nearly 400 therapy visits each.
Gloria Rucker's Nessie has logged 550 visits in just four years. She was six-years-old when she came into Gloria's life, and had already had eight litters. When Gloria took her for a vet check, 10 teeth fell out, testimony to lost calcium.
You'd never know it, to see Nessie now, eagerly straining at the leash to enter a room where her adoring fans await. Despite Gloria's muscular dystrophy, she and Nessie make about 20 visits a month countywide. It's good medicine for all concerned, Gloria included.
"We go into Alzheimer's wards, and I'll put their hand on her little furry body and I'll get a twinkle from their eyes," says Gloria. "And I'll think, Yes! We did it! We got to them with that love."
Therapy Dog Training
Stu and Sherry Galka of Sonora (shown in the photo at the top of this page) own Mother Lode K9 Training and have been certified evaluators for Therapy Dogs International since 1998. They regularly train new handlers and their dogs in obedience classes that help prepare them for therapy work.
"The most important thing about a dog is its temperament," says Stu. "If they're friendly to everybody, that's what we're looking for."
Next classes: A Saturday class will begin on July 26, 2008 in Sonora, and a Tuesday class, on July 22, 2008. Each lasts for seven weeks.
Cost: $85 for the class; $10 for a therapy-dog test; $35 a year to Therapy Dog International, which provides liability insurance as a supplement to homeowners' insurance while the dog is on therapy visits.
Phone: The Galkas, (209) 532-9217
Website: www.motherlodek9.com
© 2008 Friends and Neighbors Magazine, article posted with permission.
Images compliments of Suzy Hopkins, Friends and Neighbors Magazine
