Near the end of a visit, Annabelle was doing her tricks for a group of children. In the crowd was a little boy in a reclined wheelchair. No one saw him smile or interact with the dogs much during the visit. Most likely, he just wasn't feeling good that day. Annabelle started performing her trick, "Jump for Joy" where she does a standing vertical jump in the air as high as she can. All the little boy could see from his reclined position was when Annie was in the air. He started to smile, and then laugh. Just for him, Annie "Jumped for Joy" lots more times.
We frequently visit a group of special needs children. One in particular is wheelchair bound and, until our third visit, was non-responsive. I brought Annie up to her and started talking to her, with no response as usual. Then I decided to try something. I asked her, "do you want to take Annabelle for a walk?" She picked her head up, looked right at me and gave me the biggest smile! I was so shocked I almost forgot to follow through. I gave her one of Annie's leashes (attached to Annie's harness), I held another leash (attached to Annie's collar), a staff member pushed her wheelchair, and we went for a walk! She had a blast! Since then, we've gone for a walk every visit and that's when I get the biggest smile from her.
"Visits" don't always have to be at hospitals or nursing homes. We were taking the dogs for a walk in our neighborhood late one afternoon. We had a stressful day including a long therapy dog group business meeting, so we were glad just to get out and enjoy the exercise. A gentleman approached us and leaned down to pet Annabelle who immediately licked his face and hands thoroughly. We both eyed each other because we know that Annabelle doesn't usually give "kisses" to strangers. Then the man said "You know, I had a hard day and really needed that." As it turned out, we needed "that" too, to remind us why we do what we do.