Animals are capable of amazing empathy, and they often seem to sense when somebody needs their help. This is what happened in a nursing home in Minnesota, when a tiny teacup poodle started looking after the residents.
Doug Dawson is the owner of this teacup poodle, Nala. He often worked very long hours, and he felt guilty about leaving his beloved poodle at home. So one day, he decided to bring Nala into work with him. He expected her to sleep by his side all day, but that wasn’t what happened.
As soon as Nala got to the nursing home, she ran off on her own. Dawson decided to let her go—she was a very friendly dog, so he was sure she would be okay with the residents.
On Nala’s first day in the nursing home, she made a huge impact on the residents.
Nala seemed to know who could use some cuddles, and she would run right to them. Nala had no therapy dog training, but she had a natural knack for knowing how to comfort the elderly people who were in pain or suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia.
After Dawson saw what an amazing impact Nala had on the residents, he started bringing her to work with him almost every day. She now rides the elevator on her own, going from floor to floor and helping the residents. She doesn’t need any directions—she always knows where to go. The only thing she needs help with is pressing the elevator buttons, since they’re a bit too high for her!
As soon as Nala gets to the right floor, she’ll look left and right, seeing who needs her help. Once she figures out where she needs to go, she scurries off in that direction as fast as her little legs can take her.
Dawson says he barely sees Nala while they’re at work—they’ll just pass each other in the hallway and say hello. After all, Nala has a busy schedule to keep to!
Many of the nursing home residents say that Nala reminds of dogs they had before. One resident loves Nala because she reminds her of her beloved Schnauzer.
Nala also has a sense of when residents are nearing the end of their lives She’ll sit with them and comfort the patients and their families in these hard moments.
The rest of the staff at the nursing home treat Nala like she’s one of their own. They all love how much joy Nala brings to the nursing home residents’ lives.
Nala is a remarkable dog who loves nothing more than helping people in need. If you’d like to learn more about Nala, check out the video below!
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