The Hospital Dog

Product Information

Dot, a sweet Dalmatian, and her owner Rose, are doing wonderful volunteer work at their local hospital. Dot loves to go there and offer herself for pats, hugs and companionship to those afraid and hurting in so many different ways. The illustrations were just pure perfection, but then again it is all drawn by the super Sara Ogilvie whose art I just adore! It is also one of the reasons I took the book (the other being that it is written by Julie Donaldson). The Hospital Dog is a gentle rhyming story with a lovable main character who evokes our sympathy when she becomes a patient herself. Dot is loved by everybody that she has met at the hospital and their surprise leads to a heartwarming ending to the story. Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.

The patients in Wallaby Ward are shown in bed, in plaster, with spots, in a wheelchair and with no hair. The illustration of the ward is one of our favourites, it’s bright, colourful and full of visitors and staff as well as patients who are nervous, bored and in pain.

Author/Illustrator

Therapy Dogs Nationwide is a national charity where visiting volunteers take their own dogs into establishments to provide comfort, distraction, and stimulation.

I have to say that I loved the Dutch names (Fiet (dog) and Wil (owner)), but now I see the English names and I just think those are WAY more fitting and WAY more lovely. This brilliant book written by the doyenne of rhyme Julia Donaldson and illustrated by the incredibly talented Sara Ogilvie is based on a real life hospital dog and her owner. This story features, Dot, the Dalmatian and Rose. Together they visit the children in Wallaby ward. Dot becomes everyone’s favourite visitor and a pat, stroke and cuddle with Dot calms anxious nerves, cheers up bored teenagers and soothes a baby’s tears. I just love the idea of a hospital dog bringing such comfort and therapy to others. When Joe, a young deaf patient is leaving the hospital for home, it is up to Dot to save the day! At the end of the story, the kindness Dot has shown to others is beautifully repaid. The benefits of Animal Assisted Therapies (AAT) have been extensively studied and results range from improvement in general health and wellbeing, increased confidence levels, improved and controlled movement to improved communication skills. All in all, a beautiful and fun book about dogs, hospitals, and making people happy. Highly recommended. ce dacă este prima ta zi de internare, ce dacă ai și febră, te doare burta, ești tâfnos, supărat, trist, plictisit...toate acestea dispar când cățelușa se află în apropierea copiilor. Această minunată cățelușă este cea care le oferă îmbărbătare doctorilor, părinților iar copiilor alinare.For dog lovers who no longer live in their own home, or elderly people who attend day care centres but are unable to own a pet, interacting with a PAT Dog can bring great comfort and joy. Patting a dog, and seeing it respond, gives people a little extra boost in addition to medical and nursing care.