FORT WAYNE – Starting in foster care can be hard for an animal to learn social skills, but 1-year-old Mini Bernedoodle Pepper was bound for greatness and her owner and handler Elisha Tucker knew she was destined to work as a therapy dog.
“On her first day of visits she brought a smile to a patient that had not smiled once since arriving at the hospital,” said Elisha Tucker, manager of pediatrics, pediatric intensive care and pediatric emergency department at Lutheran Children’s Hospital.
Pepper started training with Tucker in April 2024 but she wasn’t brought into a hospital setting until June. The process was a mix of obedience training, heavy socialization and bond-building. Tucker led the training using the test for Alliance of Therapy dogs as a guide, according to a news release from Lutheran Health Network.
“I always maintained that if we encountered a behavior or skill that she was unable to overcome, we would hire a professional. Pepper was eager to learn and naturally very social,” said Tucker.
From June to December 2024, Pepper would make two to three two-hour visits to the hospital per week. In that time, she developed a relationship with the staff and bonded with patients and their families in the halls. Certification with ATD involves the dog and the handler as a team passing a test that ensures good behavior and trust between the animal and the handler. This is followed by three days of direct observations, two of which are in a healthcare facility. Pepper passed the testing on her first attempt and began patient and in-room visitation and animal-assisted therapy in February 2025.
“She has already brought so much joy and comfort to our patients. She has comforted post-surgical patients and helped to distract them from their pain, we’ve even been referred to the adult floors to visit patients with long hospital stays that we’re missing their pets,” said Tucker.