VOA标准英语2010年-Memoir Follows Baxter, a Therapy Dog w

Until his recent death at the age of 19, Baxter was America's oldest working therapy dog, visiting patients in hospitals and hospices. In a new memoir¹, Moments with Baxter, Melissa Joseph shares stories about her trained assistance dog.
For more than 17 years, Baxter was Melissa Joseph's companion and best friend

Baxter was about two years old when Melissa Joseph adopted him, and she and the golden retriever-chow mix spent the next 17 years together.

Finding a friend and an opportunity

"He and I were inseparable. We ate together. He was always in the car with me. He was never left at home alone. He went to work with me. He went everywhere with me," Joseph says.

At the time, Joseph didn't realize she was grooming³ and training Baxter to become a therapy dog. That happened eight years later.

"One day, my husband came home after having met a couple who volunteered at San Diego Hospice and said, 'I really think we should do something like that as a team, as a couple, so that it could help our relationship,'" she recalls. "So we went to the orientation⁴ program and Baxter was with us. At the end of that 35 hour orientation – it lasted several Saturdays – the orientation staff came to me and said, 'Your dog is remarkable⁵. We think he would be an addition to our team. You must get him certified⁶,'" Joseph recalls.

Baxter becomes a certified therapy dog

In her book, "Moments with Baxter", Joseph shares true stories about the connection Baxter made with terminally ill people

To get Baxter certified as a therapy dog, Joseph had to make sure he was comfortable in all sorts of situations, and with all sorts of people. Then, he started a mission that lasted more than eight years at San Diego Hospice, which cared for people with terminal illnesses.

"You would think at the end of someone's life that they would not want to meet a new person and bring new people into their sphere," she says. "But the moment people would see Baxter's face – he looked like a little Teddy bear – they wanted to touch him. There were people who didn't even like dogs and all of a sudden, they would have Baxter in their arms and have his eyes looking at them. He would completely change the dynamics⁷ in the room. Oftentimes, he would be [able to calm] any kind of anxiety that they couldn't mitigate⁸ with medication. And I would chronicle that day after day, week after week, year after year and finally I said, 'Oh my God, I've got a book about this magical hero,'" she says.

Baxter gave dying patients unconditional⁹ love

"Moments with Baxter" is a collection of 36 true stories.

"One of the more remarkable stories for me was when he was ahead of me walking into this room that we were asked to go into and the gentleman had a very rare disease," he says. "He had these huge growths, cysts – cantaloupe-sized – all over his body. I noticed that Baxter immediately walked up to the gentleman who was in the wheelchair and started licking his hand and I wanted to turn and walk out because I couldn't seem to get around the way he looked. Then I said, 'You know, if Baxter can do this, I can do this.' Two-and-a-half hours later, the three of us were on the sofa and Baxter had half of his body on this gentleman's lap and I was next to the gentleman rubbing shoulders with him," Joseph says.

Connecting with young and old
Children loved Baxter

Baxter also connected with children, including one six-year-old boy, Joseph recalls. "He was in such agony in such physical pain and the doctor said to me, 'We're at this point where we've done everything we could and maybe Baxter can help.' So we put Baxter in bed with this guy. This little boy didn't speak with anybody but all of the sudden, he started talking to Baxter. I think it's just the magical power of that love that's for free."
Baxter's unconditional love gave him the ability to connect with people regardless of their age

Such unconditional love and comfort, Joseph explains, is what makes therapy dogs able to connect with people regardless of how young or how old they are.

"There was a woman whose last dying wish was to go see the latest Harry¹⁰ Potter film that came out a couple of years ago," she says. "We made some arrangement with the hospice and the movie theatre for Baxter to accompany her to watch the Harry Potter film. All her friends, she had 28 friends who came, and there was Baxter, side by side [with her] in the movie theater, eating popcorn¹¹. She said that it was the happiest day of her life. Several weeks later, when she returned to the inpatient care center to die at San Diego Hospice, Baxter was the last person that she touched before the end of her life."

As service animals dogs offer versatile¹² skills

While dogs are not the only therapy animals, they are the most common. Laurie Hardman, director of Project Canine¹³, a therapy provider in Seattle, Washington, says dogs can provide more than just affection.

Joseph plans to train another therapy dog to continue the mission she started with Baxter

"There are so many animals that can offer some sort of interaction with people," she says. "I evaluated all sorts of animals from cats, to rabbits to birds to rats, miniature horse, pot belly¹⁴ pigs – [even] llamas can make visits. Dogs tend to be the best because we can direct them more easily. We can teach them more specific skills. We can work them for people that need physical therapy. Say somebody, they've had a stroke and they may need to try to strengthen an arm that has been affected¹⁵. They can throw a ball for a dog to retrieve². That makes their therapy much more interesting and pretty much you're not going to get a cat to do that," Hardman says.

Joseph says working with her therapy dog was such a rewarding experience that she plans to continue.  She is looking for another dog she can train to become her next healing hero.
 

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

3 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

4 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

5 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

6 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

7 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

8 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

9 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

10 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

11 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

12 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

13 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

14 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。