Good Dog Dispatch

A Friendly Paw in the Children’s Ward

Of course, she also loves the pats and pets and belly rubs that come with the job.

Trained by the Good Dog Foundation to tune out loud noises, ignore leftover food on a bedside table, and recover gracefully from the accidental step on a paw, Stella also knows how to weave through the obstacle course of hospital life — elevators, wheelchairs, crutches, IV poles—without missing a beat. Her repertoire is modest but powerful: a gentle paw, a quiet sit, and the patience to stay as long as a child needs her.

Some children reach for her immediately. Others watch first, gauging from a bed piled with pillows and wires, whether this small dog can be trusted. Cowan lets those moments unfold without interference. If a child wants contact, Stella steps forward. If not, she stays where she is. The visit proceeds entirely on the child’s terms.

Cowan has been a Good Dog Foundation volunteer for over 20 years. She has visited children hospitalized for a variety of reasons—pneumonia, broken bones, brain tumors. Some stays are brief interruptions.

Others stretch on unpredictably. “We had a girl who wasn’t communicative. Just like that, her face it up when Stella arrived,” Cowan says. “Stella makes a difference in their lives.”

One patient, a girl being treated for anorexia, had been in the hospital for an especially long stay. Over the course of Stella’s visits, Cowan began to notice small but telling changes: The girl lingered longer, held eye contact, and finally extended a tentative hand towards soft fur.

In a place defined by a rotating staff and daily routines, Stella became familiar—something reliable in an otherwise shifting environment.

Cowan recalls a visit with a teenage boy who’d been admitted after breaking his leg. She brought Stella to his bedside, and his face immediately lit up. When Cowan asked if he had a dog at home, he nodded yes. When she asked where the dog was now, his answer stopped her short: the dog had died in the same car accident that sent him to the hospital.

For a few minutes, Stella became something more than a visitor. She was a memory, a bridge, a way back to a life that had abruptly been interrupted.

A Dog Can Do What Medicine Can’t

Stella and Cowan’s work is part of a broader shift in how hospitals approach care. As medical institutions increasingly acknowledge the emotional and psychological toll of long hospital stays—especially for children—trained therapy dogs have become a steady presence on wards and in waiting rooms.

For hospitalized kids, the stress can be cumulative: a new diagnosis, painful or invasive treatments, unfamiliar surroundings, an ever-changing cast of strangers charged with their care. A therapy dog doesn’t ask questions or deliver instructions. Instead, it offers a brief suspension from the clinical world—a reminder of something ordinary and safe. For a moment, a child is no longer in a hospital bed but back at home, with a four-legged family member who simply knows how to be there. These brief, grounding moments are the foundation of the Good Dog’s animal-assisted therapy programs.

From The Hospital Ward to the Foundation’s Board

A few years ago, after her husband died, Cowan found herself at a moment of reassessment. As she began a new chapter, she took stock of what mattered most. Good Dog was already part of her life through her weekly visits with Stella, but she wanted to do more.

As Tia Biasi, Vice President for Business Development at Good Dog, recalls: “Roni attended the annual gala and gained a deeper understanding of the breadth of our reach and the depth of who we serve. She recognized this as a place where she could contribute meaningfully. She reached out and expressed an interest in joining the Good Dog board. With her ‘boots on the ground’ experience as a volunteer, she’s been a diligent board member since joining in 2024.”

Board service has not altered Cowan’s Mondays. She and Stella still return to the children’s ward. The additional role simply adds another layer—bringing the perspective of the bedside to the boardroom.