The children at the shelter came running when Limon, a yellow Lab therapy dog, showed up at the Share Homestead shelter on Hazel Dell Avenue midafternoon on Christmas Eve.
Heidi Anderson watched as Limon and her youngest, Brookelynn, 4, played on the floor.
Anderson and her family have been working to find permanent housing for about 1.5 years, since their home in the Brush Prairie area burned down.
Limon rolled on her side and let the gaggle of kids, a couple barely toddlers, scratch her belly.
Henderson said they’re in the process of getting a service dog to help her family — she’s there with five children — through anxiety and depression issues.
“You know what they do for us,” she said, gesturing at Limon. “Me and my daughter, she went right up to us, she knew that we needed it.”
The dog and her handler, Cindy Bean, were visiting through a program organized with DoveLewis Animal Hospital and Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Limon visited the shelter on Christmas Eve 2014, and Bean said they were at a memory care facility Monday, and at the Providence Neurodevelopmental Center for Children in Portland last week.
Janice VanFrederic, a case manager at Share, said the children at the shelter have been looking forward to seeing the dog for days. Residents can’t bring their pets with them into the shelter.
“It gives them something to kind of think about, to look forward to, which is really nice,” VanFrederic said. “It’s not every day they get animals in the shelter, so it’s wonderful.”
When it’s Christmas Eve, and when people are displaced and away from home and family, it’s nice to see a friendly face and a wagging tail, said Kathy Loter, the director for DoveLewis’ animal therapy program.
“We take (it) for granted, people who have dogs in their homes,” she said. “It’s kind of nice to have that love, because it’s this unconditional love that’s just right in front of you.”
Dogs with the program are typically retired guide dogs or working dogs going into a new line of work, Loter said.
Some guide dogs might have behavioral quirks too great for a blind person to handle or they might have been hurt or taken ill. Limon, 4, had cataracts, so her vision wasn’t up to snuff, Bean said.
But those dogs are still well-trained, and they’re still working dogs, Loter said. They just need something to do.
“This is a pretty good gig for a working dog,” she said.
Brookelynn and the kids played with Limon for the better part of an hour.
Henderson said she didn’t have any specific plans for Christmas. The routine doesn’t change too much.
“Trying to find a house,” she said. “We still are a family, we still have to function as a family. We just need a house.”
They’ve stayed at hotels and lived on the street, she said, adding that they’re glad for Share’s help.
“This place saves a lot of people’s lives, and saves a lot of people. I just hope I’m next in line.”
