Couple who made jumper from their pets' hair taken down memory lane with therapy dog care home visit
A couple living at a care home – who once spun the fur from their pet pooches to make jumpers – have taken a trip down memory lane thanks to a visit from a therapy dog.
Lester, an eight-year-old Spaniel cross, met Toni and Len Browning at Oriel Care Home, a residential and dementia care home on Hagley Road, Stourbridge, in August last year.
He belongs to one of the volunteers, Ele Watts, and is an authorised 'Pets for Therapy' dog, visiting residents at the home on a monthly basis.
It was during one of his recent visits that residents Toni, 84, and Len, 87, began sharing tales of the types of dogs they had – an Alaskan Malamute, a Keeshond and a Samoyed.
Toni said: "We loved our dogs, they were our world. We entered them into various competitions, and they always won something. I remember winning the “dog most like its owner” award with our Keeshonds Sassie and Keesh as I was wearing a jumper spun by their fur."
The couple would 'spend hours' combing the hair to produce enough fur to spin into jumpers.
"We had to do a lot of brushing to produce the fur that was combed and spun on a spinning wheel," said Toni.
"We then turned the fur into sweaters, like you would do with the wool of a sheep, or an alpaca – we really enjoyed it and so did our daughter, Nicky.
"Our dogs were such a big part of our lives that it's so nice when Lester comes to visit – he takes us back to the days where we cared for our own dogs."
Lester has also been helping 90-year-old resident, Fred Tarr, who owned a black Labrador for 12 years called Murphy, as well as two Golden Retrievers, siblings Amber and Winston.
Fred said: "Remembering my dogs makes me feel very emotional, but Lester always makes me smile and lift my spirits."
Home manager at Oriel Care Home, Kellie Hunt said: "We're so lucky to have Lester – he’s a wonderful dog and it’s great to see how his visits are bringing back such happy memories.
"Some of our residents are unable to leave their rooms due to their health and request that Lester pays them a visit - which he does.
"It’s clear from the smiles on the residents’ faces that Lester’s presence is positive – he even does tricks in the lounge and often gets a standing ovation!"
