Tyfani McGowan misses her dog Luna, an 8-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, and hasn’t seen the dog since Thanksgiving. The 19-year-old stays at the Share Homestead homeless shelter with her mom while Luna is at her aunt’s place.
“Being here, it’s so stressful on top of not having her here,” said McGowan, who’s had Luna since she was a puppy. “It’s horrible.”
But on Christmas Eve, McGowan got plenty of wet kisses and nudges from another labrador retriever: Limon, a therapy dog that visited the shelter. It’s become a holiday tradition for the 5-year-old yellow Labrador to visit local homeless shelters, loving on people who may be particularly stressed.
“It makes me think of my dog,” McGowan said. “It’s just like having my dog here.”
The holidays are a particularly hard time to be homeless, said Rebecca Sigler, a case manager with Share. The main reason a lot of people are staying in shelters is because they don’t have a good family support system, so the holidays — big on family time — can trigger stress, she said.
Limon is trained to relieve some of that stress.
“There’s nothing like a dog wagging its tail at you,” said Kathy Loter, program coordinator for DoveLewis’ Portland Area Canine Therapy Teams. “This is always such a sensitive time for people.”
More than half of dogs who train to become guide dogs don’t make it through the program and get adopted out to other services, Loter said. The canine therapy team gets some of those dogs, who are then trained to be therapy dogs. Limon has light cataracts in eye, so she couldn’t become a guide dog.
Limon’s owner, Cindy Bean, said Limon is intuitive and will adjust how she acts depending on where she goes and who she meets.
Loter is training her 2-year-old black Lab Marvin to become a therapy dog. He tagged along on Saturday, getting treats when he did something right and followed commands. Marvin also went through guide dog training, but could get certified because he is afraid of street performers.
There are dozens of different facilities that the dogs visit, including memory care and assisted living facilities, hospitals, courtrooms, libraries and schools. The dogs have visited Share Homestead and Orchards Inn, as well as the Winter Hospitality Overflow shelter at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Vancouver.
Share holds some holiday-related events for people staying at its shelters, but people don’t have to participate if they don’t want to, Sigler said. They’ll open stockings and have a Christmas brunch. Lots of volunteers are coming in to cook dinner this weekend, too.
The 13-room shelter is always full, Sigler said. Due to the weather, it opened up an additional six spots on Christmas Eve for people to get out of elements.
