And they called it puppy love

Home news

Mar 19, 2018

Francis Court welcomed some very special four-legged friends for a fun-filled afternoon of treats and tricks.  

Residents at Francis Court were delighted to be visited by Nightingale Dogs for a therapeutic activity session. Residents had the opportunity to stroke and pet the dogs, and enjoyed an informative talk about the dogs.  

Residents were kept entertained by Xavi, the Maltese and Bichon Frise cross, who performed tricks, including a catapult fetch game.

The dogs were also taken on a tour of the care home, visiting residents’ rooms to ensure everyone had the chance to meet and interact with them.  

Home manager, Mary Ann Ballesteros, said: “We are always looking to plan interesting and exciting activities for residents, and as so many have a keen interest in animals and pets, we invited Nightingale Dogs along to provide a fun animal therapy session. 

“It proved to be a real success, and you could see from residents’ reactions just how engaged and fascinated they were by the chance to get to play with and pet such lovely dogs.  Not only did the workshop fit really well with our ‘activity based care’ approach here at Francis Court, it was also fantastic to see the smiles on everyone’s faces. We would like to say a big thank you to Nightingale Dogs for such a fantastic afternoon!

“Here at Francis Court, this kind of activity based care is at the heart of everything we do, and we believe it had real therapeutic benefits for residents – especially those living with dementia.”