The Shih Tzu’s Purpose: To Please People for a Thousand Years

Our CafePress Store

It’s Sunday, shortly after daybreak. Nestled into their plush pillows, 9-year-old Shih Tzu littermates Emma and Bear begin their slow-stretch paw and neck routine, although it’s clear these 9- and 12-pound bundles of fluff would prefer to catch more Z’s. Shih Tzu (pronounced sheed-zoo or sheet-su) descend from centuries-old Chinese ancestry and enjoyed life as royal lap warmers. Lounging lies deep in the breed’s DNA, but wide-eyed Emma and Bear are no slackers. Once the phone rings, their owners, Burton and Shellie Goldstein, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, pack a bag, and Team Shih Tzu is on the move. Today Shih Tzu fulfill their ancient role as canine comforters in ways their Imperial breeders never imagined. The Goldsteins and their sweet-faced dogs deploy to the Washington Navy Yard in southeast Washington, D.C. Hours earlier, a gunman killed 12 people. Ready to take comforting others up a notch, these affectionate Toy Group members console first responders and frightened employees who skirted death by hiding under their desks for half the day. With guidance from mental health professionals, Emma and Bear are certified for animal-assisted crisis-response work with HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, in Eugene, Oregon. The organization has strict requirements. “The dogs must receive certification through a pet-therapy program, undergo a screening process, attend a three-day workshop, and take continuing education training with FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency],” says Karen Hathaway, president of HOPE. “Helping people in crisis who are dealing with overwhelming grief, fear, and confusion goes beyond what therapy dogs do when they visit hospital patients. Not every dog can handle it.” Danger Zones Shih Tzu Emma, a silver and white, and Bear, who is gold with a black mask, are no strangers to disaster sites. They’ve eased pain at school shootings and helped soften hearts during the floods in West Virginia; Ellicott City, Maryland; and Toms River, New Jersey. With flaming torches as a backdrop, they calmed responders at the first anniversary of the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and months later brought hope to homeowners after a series of hurricanes hit along the Texas coast. “Onlookers at disasters approach us and say, ‘We understand you have dogs. Can we pet them?’ ” Shellie Goldstein says. “After one woman learned the flood had taken her home, she asked to hold Emma and broke down.” When emergencies arise, the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC), located inside FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., provides continual monitoring of events. It’s a high-stress time when Team Shih Tzu receives the call to come comfort NRCC staffers. The Goldsteins carry Emma and Bear into the call center and down the row of headset-wearing staffers who vigilantly watch their computer monitors. “If a dispatcher is on the phone but looks our way and reaches to touch the dogs, we’ll place one on their lap,” Goldstein says. “Often responders will sit on the floor with both dogs and run their fingers through the dogs’ cottony coats. For a few minutes, you can see the muscles

The post first appeared on PetsBlogs
The Shih Tzu’s Purpose: To Please People for a Thousand Years.