Transform Your Energy with Therapy Animals

By Daniel Jewett

Mark Lammers, a retired health care executive who first brought open-and weight-bearing MRI to the Bay Area, tells people he only wants one thing from them these days: “give me your money, give me your time, or give me your dog.”

That’s because Lammers, certified in crisis, hospice and memory care, has taken on a new role in retirement — one that involves his many four-legged canine friends. “I reinvented myself into something meaningful and purposeful, which to me meant doing the three things that no one wants to do,” the part-time Sausalito houseboat resident says about his trifecta of care skills. “It’s hard and it doesn’t pay well, but I have a passion for it.”

One of the things that keeps Lammers busy is bringing his service dogs to the San Rafael Healthcare and Wellness Center, where he is director of activity and wellness and has built a sensory garden. “The dog is the master of empathy, and they are the element that brings joy,” he says. “There is nothing better than to sit in a garden with a wind chime and a water feature and everything there you can touch, see and smell, and you have a dog, and you have a guy like me who can shut the hell up once in a while.”

It’s all about bringing people back into the present moment, he says, especially when they might forget where or even who they are after a few minutes. One technique he uses is to ask the patients if they can help him teach the dog something. “There was this brilliant moment when I finally got there — I had a trail of grandmas with walkers waiting to teach the dog,” he says. “It turns out that people with Alzheimer’s who might be at severely declining cognitive levels know how to tell a dog to sit and give me your paw – it gives them agency.”

Lammers started out on this journey with an animal-assisted therapy organization called Buddha and Me and is now setting up Golden Paws, Silver Whiskers in Sausalito which will give seniors a place to meet, have coffee and pie, and interact with dogs.

People can bring their own dogs, and others will be provided using a novel approach — Lammers has handpicked local dogs that are stuck at people’s homes during the workday. “Marin people have some of the best dogs in the world and I realized they are a resource, needing to get out and be shared,” he says about the plan to combine senior daycare with doggy daycare. “It’s a way for the owners to participate in my program; it’s just a great big cycle that feeds itself.”

As for how to keep the dogs on track, Lammers says his border collie Molly is more than up to the task. “She’s like the office manager, always on her second cup of coffee,” he says, laughing. “Every dog trusts her as soon as they see her.”

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