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Spreading canine comfort around the Tri-Valley

marlais (Download Image) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employee Sue Marlais volunteers with Valley Humane Society’s Canine Comfort program, along with Jack, left, and Bella, right.

Editor's Note: During the Helping Others More Effectively (HOME) Campaign, Public Affairs will run a series of articles about Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees who volunteer for various nonprofit agencies.

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Imagine feeling overcome with loneliness, pain or stress, and then a little dog comes and curls up on your lap or performs a trick.

Sue Marlais, LLNL’s deputy chief information officer, her partner Cheryl Collins (also a Lab employee) and their two adopted Chihuahua mixes Bella and Jack bring smiles and unconditional love when they visit senior centers and hospice facilities in the Tri-Valley. Marlais volunteers with Valley Humane Society’s Canine Comfort program that brings certified therapy dogs to those facilities and even schools to comfort students during finals.

"It’s incredible. As soon as you walk in with them, the patients light up," Marlais said. "Whether they’re a hospice patient or a senior patient, they are so happy to see the dogs. You see them come to life. When we first walk in the room, there’s sadness, and then when the dogs come in, there’s all this happiness."

jack

The individuals grapple with difficult circumstances from stroke recovery to facing the end of their lives. She has regulars who eventually pass away. Kindred Hospice helps volunteers like Marlais work through those losses. Despite the grief, she knows the big impact the dogs can make in the patients’ lives. "I had a video of one of the patients petting Bella, and I sent it to the patient’s family. They all just started crying because the patient had been so withdrawn. All the visitors they had been getting were not the right visitor, and Bella happened to be the right visitor," Marlais said. "There’s a lot of crying involved."

After Marlais adopted Bella and Jack, she knew they would be great therapy dogs in their own ways. Bella is quiet and curls on laps, while Jack is the goofy entertainer who can do crazy tricks. Therapy dogs are certified based on an evaluation of temperament and basic obedience commands to make sure they will not negatively react to prodding or loud noises.

Their work with Canine Comfort has taken them to places like Pixar to help with stress relief for the employees while they were finishing "Finding Dory."

bella

"We are so lucky to have such a dedicated volunteer like Sue," said Shoshannah Reed of Valley Humane Society. "She volunteers several times a week at nursing homes where seniors are often unable to get out of bed, and the impact of Sue and Bella’s visit on the person is special and means the world to them. Many times our Canine Comfort volunteer may be the only visitor a person gets all week or all month. We appreciate all that Sue does for our community and her commitment and dedication is remarkable."

In addition to her work with Valley Humane Society, she volunteers with Tri-Valley Animal Rescue walking dogs, taking photos of them and fostering. Jack was one of those fosters until he got along so well with Bella that they decided to keep him, a case fondly referred to as a "foster failure." She also does behavioral and obedience training with Dog Dynamics Inc.

"When I’ve had a nice de-stressing weekend of walking dogs at the shelter Saturday morning and doing therapy visits on Sunday, I come in to work completely like ‘Woohoo! I had a great weekend.’ It’s very rewarding," she said.