CRESTVIEW — A woman whose mobility left her long ago sits in the hall at Shoal Creek Rehabilitation Center with a blank face until she sees Dozer making his way over to her.
The woman can’t pet him or talk about how much she enjoys his visits. But when she sees the 120-pound black and white Great Dane walk near, she smiles widely.
Four-year-old Dozer, who belongs to Angie Nousiainen, has been a therapy dog for much of his life.
Every week, Nousiainen takes Dozer on rounds of local nursing homes. Once a month she takes him to Ronald McDonald House in Pensacola. She says the visits cost more than she can afford, but she keeps doing it.
“It matters to the people I visit,” Nousiainen said. “I see the look on someone’s face when they’re petting Dozer and think, ‘What if I hadn’t come because of gas money?’ ”
Dozer’s journey to become a therapy dog began when he was less than a year old. He and Nousiainen were walking in a local park when they found a family whose children began to squeal with delight at the large dog.
When the woman said the family had been going through hard times and the children rarely laughed, Nousiainen knew Dozer had a higher calling.
After going through obedience school and completing tests to become a licensed therapy dog, Dozer began his work.
Nousiainen said money wasn’t an issue when she got Dozer. However, after the BP oil spill in 2010 she and her husband found themselves with lower-paying jobs and barely earning enough to make ends meet.
Nousiainen, a part-time personal assistant, said the trips with Dozer every month costs about $100 in gas, $25 for grooming, $18 for Dozer’s medication and another $25 for knickknacks for the people they visit.
Nousiainen said she is looking to expand her services and hopes to get more hospitals and medical centers interested despite the costs involved.
“We’ve been one step away from homeless three times last year,” Nousiainen said. “Somehow, though, we always find a way, even if it means just putting in $2 at a time for gas.”
On one of their therapy Thursdays, Nousiainen and Dozer stop in each room of Shoal Creek Rehabilitation Center. She asks the residents how they are doing, where their family is and chats about things only a weekly visitor would know to talk about.
Dozer stands tall enough that residents just have to reach out from their beds or wheelchairs to pet his head.
Nousiainen makes a point to visit certain residents who are especially keen of her dog.
“He knows what each of them need. It’s different needs for different people, but he knows,” Nousiainen said. “It can be very therapeutic when they’re reaching out to pet him. It makes such a difference.”
Despite continued financial struggles, Nousiainen refuses to stop taking Dozer to the places she said need him and his special brand of therapy.
“I will tell you he’s not the world’s best therapy dog,” she said. “If I could afford it I would take him to do more training, but he just loves the people we visit.”
Nousiainen says she’s not one to ask others for help. She’s been given some donations that help pay the expenses, but not been enough to ease her mind. She just hopes she can keep the balance between finances and good works.
“We might be poor, but what we get out of this makes us real rich.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.