Millie Visits a Care Home

Snip and I have been visiting care homes with the Best Friends project. Older humans who live in care homes can’t have dogs with them, and many of them miss a friendly canine face around the place. The project also helps younger humans, who come along to learn about empathy and other valuable lessons we dogs can teach.

I’m not so young myself now (91 in dog years) and sometimes I get a little confused. On the first visit I wasn’t sure why we were there, and I did wonder if I was going to be booked in permanently! Snip confused things further by telling me we were there for treats. I saw some cake on a tea trolley, but when I went to eat it, I was pulled away. Then I found some food in a bowl on the floor and tried to eat that, but somebody picked it up and said it was for the cat, if you please.

I spent a bit of time looking for this cat – if there’s a cat in the building I have to check it out – but I couldn’t find it. I went to tell Snip we’d been cheated, that the treats were for some cat, and I found him talking to one of the residents.

Afterwards, he explained how the project is supposed to work. We go around the care home with the young humans, who give treats to the residents to give to us. That way, the young people get to chat with the older ones, the old people get to stroke us dogs, and we get to enjoy the treats! It’s a win-win situation all round.

On the next visit I felt more confident because I knew what I was doing. We met some lovely humans and a gentle blonde Greyhound called Beth…

…and this time I made sure I didn’t miss out on the treats!