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    A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher
    A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher
    A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher
    Audiobook7 hours

    A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher

    Written by Sue Halpern

    Narrated by Karen White

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    At loose ends with her daughter leaving home and her husband on the road, Sue Halpern decided to give herself and Pransky, her under-occupied Labradoodle, a new leash-er, lease-on life by getting the two of them certified as a therapy dog team. Smart, spirited, and instinctively compassionate, Pransky turned out to be not only a terrific therapist but an unerring moral compass. In the unlikely sounding arena of a public nursing home, she led her teammate into a series of encounters with the residents that revealed depths of warmth, humor, and insight Halpern hadn't expected. And little by little, their adventures expanded and illuminated Halpern's sense of what virtue is and does-how acts of kindness transform the giver as well as the given-to.

    Funny, moving, and profound, A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is the story of how one faithful, charitable, loving, and sometimes prudent mutt-showing great hope, fortitude, and restraint along the way (the occasional begged or stolen treat notwithstanding)-taught a well-meaning woman the true nature and pleasures of the good life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMay 16, 2013
    ISBN9781452682105
    A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life from an Unlikely Teacher
    Author

    Sue Halpern

    Sue Halpern is the author of seven books of fiction and nonfiction, most recently A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, New York Review of Books, Rolling Stone, and Condé Nast Traveler. She lives in Vermont with her husband, the writer and environmental activist Bill McKibben, and is a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College.

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    Reviews for A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home

    4/5

    65 ratings17 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Pransky was bored and so was her owner after her last child hit high school. So the author gets them certified as a therapy dog team and off they go every Tuesday to the local nursing home to visit the residents. Quite a few life lessons learned on the way during the years they worked together.
    • 4/5
      Though woven with the sadness of the inevitability of death and dying in the County Nursing Home, this book is positive and inspiring on many levels, from basic caring, acceptance, generosity, and empathy to true non-judgment and compassion. Guided by Aristotle's Seven Virtues, the chapters unfold with growing love as Therapy Dog Pransky and companion/owner Sue journey through the hallways and rooms and gardens of the Nursing Home, meeting some of its most memorable main characters."Pranksy knows the essence of people..." conveys the message of what they together learn and give to each other and to the residents and staff.The book also reveals the history of nursing home "reforms."Many readers may wish for and wonder why their own community does not have a County Nursing Home with a caring, accepting, loving staff and a Pransky.The book would warrant a Super Five Star Rating except for two things:1. Unaccepting support of Temple Grandin who believes in Animal Experimentation.2. Jaw-dropping times when Pransky is left alone in a locked car while the author shops.Not only is it easy to kidnap a dog from a car, but overheating and loss of oxygen easily happen even on cold days and nights.Worse still is the fact that the owners may suffer a health breakdown or accident where they are rushed to the hospital in an ambulance,leaving their pet to suffocate and die. I sure hope this practice gets changed in life and in new editions.
    • 3/5
      When Sue Halpern found herself and her Labradoodle, Pransky, at a loose end, she searched for ways in which to keep them both busy. Of the options available, Sue felt Pransky would make a wonderful pet therapy dog and began the process of training for certification. Reigning in Pransky’s natural exuberance was no small task but within a few months, having passed the assessment process, Sue and Pransky walked into the County Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center to meet its residents.Halpern introduces us to the men and women she and Pransky visit each week, who suffer a variety of ailments from simple old age to genetic diseases such as Huntington’s and Alzheimers. The stories are sweet, touching and poignant and it is evident that Pransky’s presence benefits those that spend time with her, providing companionship, comfort, and joy. It is equally clear that Halpern and Pransky also benefit from the time they spend at the facility.A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is “…about one singular, faithful, charitable, loving, and sometimes prudent dog….showing great hope, restraint and fortitude….”. but also a thoughtful treatise on life, illness, aging and death. Each chapter is framed by one of the seven Virtues and includes anecdotes of Sue and Pransky’s visits with the residents of the nursing home, interspersed with commentary on philosophy, religion, social policy, scientific research and healthcare.
    • 5/5
      Loved it for Pransky, all his clients at county and the journey that being a therapy dog led them both on.
    • 3/5
      an easy to read book that allows us into the halls of a nursing home that is not the horror we mostly envision. Fell in love with the dog...wish he'd visit me...
    • 4/5
      Reading "A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home" is a bit of a mix between memoir, dog tale, and the author's lessons learned from being one part of a pet therapy team in a typical nursing home. Sue Halpern recounts her decision to go through the pet therapy certification process with Pransky (the adorable Labradoodle on the cover) when she discovered both she and the said dog needed a new focus on life.There was less of the day-to-day stories that I was expecting, as Halpern structured her account into chapters based on religious virtues (i.e. restraint, prudence, faith, fortitude, hope, love, and charity) but this format worked really well for me once I threw out my expectations.Having been a nursing home social worker for many years, I see the "real" people behind the stories Halpern tells about the residents. I am thrilled that she tells her account in a way that is both truthful but also is a positive glance into the sometimes hilarious, typically unusual, and always heart-wrenching world of nursing home residents. Recommended!!I received this "Uncorrected Proof" as part of Library Thing's Early Reviewer program.
    • 5/5
      I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. When I first received this book, I have to admit, I was skeptical. I expected another "feel-good" story with little substance. I was wrong. I found that "A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home" spoke to the truth that exists in our society, and the way we care for our elderly. As someone who works in pastoral care, and visits any number of facilities like this, I thought that Halpern did a great job balancing narrative, information and reflection, and wrote about her experiences with great honesty and insight. More than a cute dog-helping-others story (though the dog, Pransky, is delightful) this is a book with substance. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      How fun to read a book about a dog where the dog doesn't die! But beyond that, this is a great little book about living, dying, and the lessons we can learn from our canine companions.Sue Halpern decided to have herself and her Labradoodle, Pransky, certified as a therapy-dog team. But Sue is also a former ethics professor, and learned early that most ethics can be sorted into the seven virtues as per Catholic theology. She is not a Catholic, but these virtues can easily be considered universal: love, hope, faith, prudence, justice, fortitude, and restraint. Each chapter of this book focuses on one of these virtues, and recounts Sue and Pransky's adventures on the road to certification, and afterwards, their Tuesday morning adventures at "County Nursing and Rehabilitation Home" (all names & places are pseudonyms). It works extremely well. The stories of the residents and Pransky's effect on them are delightful, sometimes poignant, but always touching. The stories are interspersed with a lot of philosophy, and at the end, I felt that I had read something beyond a feel-good story about a dog. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      This is a sweet memoir about Halpern and her labradoodle, Pransky, who became a certified therapy dog team and visited the local nursing home every week. Halpern's daughter was in college and her husband travelled a lot for work, so she was looking for something to keep she and Pransky occupied. Halpern has organized these stories by the seven virtues (love (sometimes referred to as charity), hope, faith, prudence, fortitude, restraint, and justice) and uses each story to show how the residents and Pransky exercised these virtues. She doesn't include justice but does include both love and charity.I enjoyed this book, but the ending felt a little sparse. I expected some type of summation - perhaps a discussion of how Halpern felt these virtues would continue to influence she and Pransky - but basically, the book just ended.No tissues were needed in the reading of this book. Review based on an uncorrected proof.
    • 4/5
      A Dog Walks Into the Nursing Home is an interesting book about what a woman learns about life by training her dog to be a therapy dog, and then visiting a nursing home with the dog. It is not like many of the other “pet” books that I have read which center on the dog or cat and show us what life must look like through their eyes or how a community is changed by the pet being there. This book centers more on what the woman learns about life in the nursing home than anything to do with the dog. If you are looking for a true pet book about a dog then this is not the book for you. However, if you are looking for a book about one woman’s insights about life that she learns through various encounters with the residents at the nursing home then you should enjoy this novel. The author tells several stories about several of the residents she visits weekly over the span of years. She divides her book into sections based on what she calls the seven virtues that include Prudence, Justice, Temperance (or Restraint), Courage (or Fortitude), Faith, Hope, and Charity (or Love). Each section tells a story or stories that exemplify that virtue which is an interesting way to organize the book. While I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, I had two criticisms of it. The first is I thought it would be a story that centered more around the dog, Pransky but it wasn’t it was centered around the nursing home patients and what they taught the author. Secondly, it didn’t really end well; there is no true ending, the book just kind of stops. I would have like a definitive ending of some sort. Otherwise, this is a lovely book that will make one think about life and the lessons that can be observe in a nursing home.
    • 5/5
      From the title and the incredibly cute picture on the cover, I was expecting a "fluffier" book – one with a string of mostly humorous anecdotes. I would have been ok with that, but it was a pleasant surprise to find this book is so much more. The sub-title is "Lessons in the good life from an unlikely teacher" which hints at its more serious side. Broken down into seven chapters, the topics loosely follow the Greek philosophers traits that should be cultivated (courage, wisdom, justice and restraint) with three added by Saint Augustine (love, hope and faith). The first chapter Restraint deals mostly with Pransky's training necessary to become a therapy dog. The other chapters reflect on what Pransky's interaction with the nursing home residents can teach us about the other six virtues.When one person visits another, it seems like there is always an agenda, or expectation, for both parties. With dog therapy, the dog is "neutral" and allowed Ms Halpern some distance to be an observer. The observations about how to interact with the nursing home residents, while particularly relevant to dealing with people generally disabled in some way, can be generalized as ways to interact with anyone, regardless of age or physical ability. The book doesn't preach, but does teach.The advance review copy is a 312 page paperback, but it was a very quick read.This book was very relevant to me. I've always been a "dog person", and my 97 year old mother entered a nursing home last year – just a few months after our dog died. She was headed toward a nursing home anyway (having had a stroke leaving her in a wheelchair) but I'm convinced the dogs death hastened that move. I can't decide who to pass the book on to – nursing home staff, or other friends with elderly relatives. I liked the book so much, and should probably re-read it every so often, at least while I'm a frequent nursing home visitor, that I may keep it and buy copies to give to friends – that's how good it is.
    • 4/5
      Judging from the title, "A DOG Walks Into a Nursing Home", I was expecting something about how the dog interacted with the residents and staff, her impact on them and their reactions to her. The book is more about the author's personal thoughts, philosophies and experiences relative to her once-a-week visits to a local nursing home. A better title might have been "An Ethics/Philosophy Professor Visits a Nursing Home (And Brings Her Dog Along)" If you are a dog-lover who is looking for a "dog centric" story, this is not for you. I received a free pre-publication copy of this book from Library Thing in return for my unbiased review.
    • 3/5
      I found this book to be more philosophical and littered with statistical data from studies than about a dog . Yes the dog is mentioned, obviously, but its really more about quality of life for the aging and the nursing home environment. I was hoping to get to know the dog not learn Aristotle theories. ** Book received in exchange for a review **
    • 4/5
      The introduction is a bit chatty but keep on reading. Halpern, now an empty nester, and her bored Labradoodle now have time to do something special. The author describes her decision to train Pransky as a therapy dog, and their weekly visits to County Nursing Home to meet with its residents. A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is much more than just Halpern's experiences on Tuesdays at County. It is a mixture of her readings of philosophy and theology as they apply to the realities of life at a nursing home. It is not surprising that her initial trepidation and sadness to these visits give way to so much more. Pransky is a big hit with many of the residents. Halpern witnesses how Pransky's unconditional acceptance brings out the love and humor in the folks they meet. But the author is surprised at how much she learns from seeing the many small kindnesses of the busy staff to the residents, and other volunteers to the residents. She is most touched and changed by seeing the residents, despite physical and mental limitations, help and love each other. I found the last chapter of the book, Charity, very moving. The author discusses virtues, values and doing good without getting preachy which is a difficult tightrope to walk.If you read this book, I believe you will not only enjoy it but will learn about the goodness of life and it's "small" moments as well.
    • 4/5
      The subject matter hits a little too close to home for me to write an objective review right now, but I enjoyed this story a lot. Of course endearing dog tidbits abound, but Halpern also provides some interesting perspectives on philanthropy and what constitutes quality of life for people pushing the century mark.
    • 4/5
      Each chapter of this memoir is written around a virtue, which gives structure to the collection of memories made while volunteering at the local nursing home. I thought Ms. Halpern's insights as she watched her dog interact with residents were thoughtful, particularly in the context of aging and death. I'd love to meet Pransky!
    • 5/5
      By the cover, you would assume this book is going to be just another humorous fluffy dog book. It is soooo much more than that. Sue Halpern has opened herself up to the life lessons learned from the County Nursing Home residents, her therapy dog Pransky, and about end of life philosophy and life in general. An intelligent, engaging and witty read. I will be recommending this book to my family, friends, and book club.