“His little presence has made such a huge difference to the children, cheering them up and assisting in calming those who are anxious about being in hospital - he’s an amazing dog,” according to Tracey Torpey, Clinical Skills Facilitator, Paediatric Unit, University Hospital Galway (UHG) explaining the impact their therapy dog has had.

“Ollie is our first therapy dog, he always receives a warm welcome and of course laps up all the attention, bringing with him so much warmth and joy. This interaction is a powerful thing to witness. You can stand back and simply watch the positive energy filling the room.”

Sarah Murphy, Clinical Nurse Manager 3, UHG Paediatric Unit, explains how “dog therapy offers a positive distraction in the unit and helps normalise the setting for children who are away from home under scary and unpleasant circumstances. Sometimes the best medicine has four legs and a wagging tail. Ollie can be a furry friend and a piece of normality in an unfamiliar world for children in hospital.”

Irish Therapy Dogs is a registered voluntary charity who are always looking for suitable volunteers. Approved volunteers and their dogs visit residents of an assigned Care Centre once a week to bring them an abundance of positive therapeutic benefits.

Ollie’s owner and handler Siobhan Falvey, who is a lifelong animal lover, outlines how she became interested in Irish Therapy Dogs after hearing about their work: “As soon as I witnessed at first hand the daily joy and transformative power of the human-animal bond, and the potential for deep emotional connections with both the dogs and the individuals, I knew he would be good at that type of work. Ollie started his journey in a nursing home providing love and support to the elderly, now he is happy to be on duty at the Paediatric unit in UHG.

“Irish Therapy Dogs is an amazing organisation, and it was the perfect fit for me, because I’ve always been fascinated by what dogs can achieve through the connections that they are able to make with humans. Families and staff will often stop to show me photos of their pets at home that they are missing. We compare funny stories about our dogs while they have a cuddle with Ollie.”