They are wagging their tails and sniffing, the four dogs that will cuddle with the elderly at the Weidesteyn residential care location in Hoogeveen on this day. Tessa, O-jay, Guusje and Dribble have an important task: bringing a big smile to the residents’ faces.
Alice, one of the residents, beams when Guusje jumps onto her lap. “I love dogs,” she says. “I used to breed dogs myself.” Neighbor across the street, Henk Reinders, also smiles broadly. “I think it’s beautiful. It makes me happy, yes. Especially when they do those tricks.”
A while ago, the Treant residential care location made an appeal to dog owners. This was well received. 19 dogs were registered, but now there are as many as 26. “It is wonderful to see how the elderly react to the dogs,” says Antonie van Turnhout, who organizes the meetings. “You see emotion, sometimes even to tears, and joy, because the dogs remind you of your own deceased dog. They are just beautiful moments.”
“They start laughing and there is a twinkle in their eye. I think that is the most beautiful thing there is,” says Bianca Jansen, owner of dog O-jay. Today she voluntarily came to the nursing home for the second time. How O-jay thinks? “Great! He’s ready to go in with his leash extended.”
The Treant residential care location has already organized dog cuddle mornings a few times before, and plans to do this on a structural basis. “Of course, we have only just started. But in 2025 we want to make new agreements with the dog owners. And I actually want them to work in a permanent department. As a kind of permanent employee.”