Bubba. Through Kyle’s store, Bear came to realize his fondness for seeing people smiling on good and bad days. Bear was chosen to be our animal advocate for this issue after the magazine heard about his commitment to service, celebrating 400-plus hours of therapeutic actions at MUSC.
WRITTEN BY FERN WOODEN, INTERN, LOWCOUNTRY DOG MAGAZINE
This month’s Lowcountry Dog Magazine’s Animal Advocate is ...
BEAR T HE T H E R AP Y D O G Our Animal Advocate for February 2020 is a bit different from our heroes in past issues; he is a tad more cuddly and has far more fur. It is Bear the Therapy Dog, speaking to us via his animal translator and owner, Kyle Kelly. As an only furchild, Bear not only holds the love of his father but all of his colleagues and patients at the Medical University Of South Carolina Hospitals. Bear is a seven-year-old Bernese mountain dog, and as a breed who needs a job in it’s life, he found his passion for helping people feel better. He has been certified as a therapy dog since he was five years old, as “he was too puppy in the head” to be verified earlier in his career. He will be celebrating two years with MUSC this coming April, a place he calls his “second home.” Bear’s journey to becoming a therapy dog began long before his training classes through the national organization Alliance Therapy Dogs. He noticed how much he loved to make people smile through his owner, Kyle. Kyle is the owner of Charleston’s favorite Christmas sweater store, Uncle Kyle’s Sweater Emporium, where people from all over would come not only for a one-of-a-kind sweater but to see the big cuddly dog, nicknamed Bear the Love Sponge, with no association to the radio legend
To become a therapy dog as well as work at an institution such as a hospital, one must be certified. Bear’s certification comes from the Alliance Therapy Dog organization in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. He notes becoming a therapy dog is a lengthy process and encourages other furry friends who strive to become one to “stick with it.” He wants them to understand “it is a commitment to both humans and dogs. If your dog has the right personality and the human can make time for it, it will be worth it in the end.” Becoming a therapy dog gives Bear a sense of purpose, insisting it changed him for the better and it is the experiences that make the job worth it. Whether it be visiting a legendary military officer and thanking him for his service or helping comfort day and night staff from long and sometimes painstaking shifts or even assisting children to take away the fear of shots by being there to offer a hug, Bear has seen it all in his 400-plus hours of “work.”
