When Jerry's In The House

Set foot into the Ronald McDonald House and you'll no doubt be greeted by Jerry, an affable, 90-pound, 1-year-old Labradoodle, and surrogate-pet for seriously ill children and their families.

The mission of Ronald McDonald House is to keep families together and strong while facing the stress of serious pediatric illness or disease, and to function as a home-away-from-home while children are being treated at area hospitals. It is not uncommon for a family to live at the Ronald McDonald House for as long as a year. Having an understudy in the role of a sorely missed family pet is often vital to a family's emotional well-being.

Recognizing this, two generous, longtime benefactors donated the Labrador retriever/poodle hybrid pup last October to the Ronald McDonald House to become its first-ever official housedog. While the organization itself formally owns Jerry and pays for his food, professional training and vet care - no inexpensive proposition, as any dog owner knows - Paula Noonan, house manager for the organization has stepped up to be Jerry's volunteer foster mom. She brings him to work with her each morning and takes him home each weeknight. (He spends three weekends per month in her home and one on-site at Ronald McDonald House.)

Jerry is not being trained to be an assistance dog, he's not even a certified therapy dog.

It seems just being a lovable pooch is Jerry's principal asset and reason enough for the Ronald McDonald House residents and staff. Therapy certified or not, this special dog functions as resident stress-reliever. According to Noonan, Jerry instinctively knows his role is to provide comfort any way he can. "You could hang a sign on him that reads: `The Doctor Is In' the moment he walks in the door," Noonan says.

In one poignant instance of the comfort Jerry provides residents at Ronald McDonald House, an otherwise always upbeat, emotionally in-control mom, whose child was doing very poorly and had been given a grim prognosis, would sit down and "just cry and cry with Jerry," Noonan said. "I'd just hand her the Kleenex and let them have their time." Jerry's nonjudgmental nature and excellent listening skills make him the perfect canine confidant for kids and their parents alike.

"I know he's made some things easier for patients," says, Mike Orum, facilities manager. "Some parents would come in themselves for a `Jerry fix' when their kids were in the hospital." And as a parental aid, Orum says Jerry has also been a successful bribe to get kids to take their medications. Parents will say: "If you take your medicine, you can go play with Jerry." It apparently works like a charm.

Noonan and Orum agree that Jerry is "part stuffed toy," with the perfect temperament for being around these kids. He's so passive, they say, kids climb on him, pull his fur, put their hands in his mouth - all with nary a protest from Jerry.

"This is a fabulous dog. Everyone there loves Jerry," enthuses Wendy van Kerkhove, owner of Fresh Air Training who has been hired to teach Jerry a trick or two and to modify his minor misbehaviors - such as not reliably returning fetched items to their throwers, occasionally pulling at his leash and unceremoniously helping himself to cake left out on the counter - all typical of any young dog, she says, and easily corrected.

What she'd never want to change about Jerry is his personality. "I've seen a 5-year-old girl and her year-old brother plunk right into Jerry and he doesn't react. You can't train a dog to be like this."

Sid Korpi is a freelance writer from Minneapolis.