FARGO — A one-year-old golden retriever, Fox, is set to join the team at Sanford Children's Hospital in the role of the Fargo region's first ever facility dog. Fox's role is different from therapy dogs' because facility dogs work in health care settings to provide comfort and are educated to assist with patient care, while therapy dogs are personal pets certified to visit the hospital and provide comfort and joy to patients and families, Sanford Health said in a release. As a facility dog, Fox will demonstrate medication administration, motivate patients to move after surgery, help with pain management, comfort patients and loved ones who are facing chronic or life-changing illnesses and help patients deal with stress and anxiety, the release said.
A $200,000 gift from NutriSource Pet Foods, a Perham-based KLN Family Brands company, helped Sanford acquire Fox. That gift also established the NutriSource Facility Dog Program, an inaugural program of the entire Sanford footprint using animal-assisted therapy to provide care, promote healing and improve the emotional well-being of pediatric patients, the release said. Prior to arriving in Fargo, Fox completed an extensive educational program led by Canine Assistants, a Georgia-based nonprofit dedicated to educating and placing service dogs with individuals and in health care settings.
Fox's work in the NutriSource Facility Dog Program at Sanford Children’s will be funded 100% by donations, the release said..
