Visited From: 2010-2017
Boudie was a British breed of the Golden Retriever whose easy to please demeanor and deep brown eyes easily softened the impact of his large size. His specialty of lying on his back for “belly rubs” and his beautiful red/golden coat caught the eyes of those he served as a therapy dog. According to Wayne, not much bothered Boudie and worked well in most any situation.
Although Wayne & Boudie visited as a North Star Therapy Animals team in a variety of facilities, Boudie’s favorite place to work was probably in colleges and schools during de-stress events where he received a lot of attention and pets (there is just never enough of those). Wayne says that the reactions of the people who attended those events made it very rewarding. The visits Wayne & Boudie provided to care facilities ensured not only that the staff had a good day, but that residents themselves had a brighter day. “For me to be able to make someone’s day, put a smile on their face, or even talk makes our visits very special,” Wayne said. Like so many therapy animal handlers, Wayne is accustomed to people not remembering his name – but no one ever seems to forget Boudie.
When Boudie was not busy brightening days through therapy animal visits, he did the “normal” dog things outdoors – trying to keep squirrels out the yard (not very well, according to Wayne), going for walks around the block, rides to the store, dealing with his two sisters (cats), and sitting in the front yard and watching the neighborhood go by. Indoors, however, he was quite content to play with his toys and sit contentedly at Wayne’s feet.
**Wayne and Boudie were honored with a MSP Nice award from the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. That story can be found here: https://northstartherapyanimals.org/2017/08/29/remembering-honoring-boudie/