PORT ANGELES — Saturday visitors to Olympic Medical Center have probably met Trevor, the big “blockhead” black Labrador who has greeted visitors and those waiting for the emergency room for five years.
Trevor’s handler, Monte Mogi, 80, is a retired Air Force master sergeant and has been a volunteer at Olympic Medical Center for more than 10 years.
For the past five years, Trevor has been at his side whenever Mogi sets up in the hospital gift shop.
Trevor, a certified therapy dog trained by Mogi from puppyhood, is a fixture at the hospital to the point he has become a hospital mascot, said Kathy Coombes, volunteer coordinator for OMC.
“Trevor has heart,” she said.
“He makes everyone feel like he is your best friend. He makes everyone feel good.”
Not only does Trevor provide his own brand of puppy-eyed therapy to patients, he also keeps a smile on staff faces, Coombes said.
“He brings joy to the hospital,” she said.
Trevor’s personality attracts him to those who need him most, as he sidles up against wheelchairs of patients who may be upset or in pain.
“Trevor is one of those very special dogs,” Coombes said.
Petting a therapy dogs helps patients and staff lower their blood pressure, produces endorphins, and reduce the stress of those with whom they interact, say those who advocate their use.
Coombes said she admires the relationship between Trevor and his handler, Mogi, and their devotion to service at the hospital.
“He and Monte are truly the best friends,” she said.
Coombes said that Trevor is one of four dogs certified by Therapy Dogs International to provide visits to patients at the hospital, and the most active of the four.
Not every dog can be a therapy dog, Coombes said.
They require training and certification before they can be allowed into the hospital, she said.
Trevor’s path to becoming a therapy was a natural one, according to his breeder.
Beth Wilkerson, 59, owner of Bouldinaire Labrador Retrievers, breeds English Labrador retrievers — a chunkier variation of the popular Labrador retriever breed — for hunting and American Kennel Club show.
Their large, blocky heads have earned them the nickname “blockhead Labradors,” Wilkerson said.
Trevor was born in 2005 with a mild limp on one front leg, and could not be shown or trained to hunt, she said.
The puppy had the perfect easygoing personality to be a companion for her parents, Monte and Nadine Mogi, so she gave Trevor to them in 2005.
By the time Trevor was one year old, he had outgrown the limp, and was on his way to being a well-trained pet.
After Nadine suffered a stroke in 2006 and became confined to their home, her husband trained the year-old Trevor to become her service dog.
Nadine Mogi died in 2008.
At that time, Monte Mogi had been an OMC volunteer for five years and knew the hospital had a need for therapy dogs, so he shifted Trevor’s training to earn certification for interaction with patients and staff in a hospital setting.
Mogi said the training includes teaching dogs with a suitable temperament how to approach people, not to jump on people and to avoid interacting with other dogs or picking up food on the ground while working.
Most of the training for a therapy dog involves strict obedience training before being subjected to a Therapy Dogs International behavior test.
“He passed his test with flying colors,” Mogi said.
While on duty, Mogi carries an OMC identification card and therapy dog certification in his vest, which identifies him as “Master Sgt. Trevor” to anyone who meets him.
Wilkerson noted that, as a certified therapy dog approved by hospital staff, Trevor is allowed in the hospital but is not a service dog and can’t enter other public places, such as grocery stores.
One of Wilkerson’s other dogs has been certified by New Leash on Life, a local service dog organization, and placed with a local veteran of the war in Iraq, she said,
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
