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Mendo Lake Family Life

The Dog-tor Is In

Meet Dog-tor Rosie, the Adventist Health Howard Memorial therapy dog who makes the rounds at the hospital, bringing a new kind of healing to the hospital’s patients and staff. Dog-tor Rosie is around 9 years old. Her human, Howard Memorial nurse Henrietta Simonsson, rescued her from the Humane Society after her previous owners dumped her from a pick-up truck. Today, Henrietta and Rosie make rounds together every week, brightening patients’ days. Rosie worked hard to become a therapy dog, undergoing extensive training at three different facilities and accumulating several years of experience. Pet therapy is part of the hospital’s Planetree philosophy, which promotes offering complementary therapies that heal the whole person.