OSKALOOSA —
She has a passion for the relationship between humans and dogs.
Victoria Laird, of rural Mahaska County, has spent a lifetime appreciating animals. Laird trains her dogs in the areas of agility and obedience, among other competitive areas. However, her golden retriever, Lincoln, is trained in a different sort of way.
Lincoln serves as a therapy dog for hospital patients. Laird said Lincoln learned his therapy training at the Des Moines Obedience Training Center. Here, they took a class specifically for therapy work where he was exposed to all of the typical hospital environmental elements like wheelchairs, walkers and IVs, noted Laird.
“They have to stay quiet, they have to not jump up on people,” said Laird, noting that therapy dogs also must be able to be alone with a person who is not their master while remaining obedient.
Perhaps most importantly, therapy dogs like Lincoln must enjoy being petted.
According to Laird, the positive impact Lincoln has on hospital patients is immediate.
“Just by petting the dog — interacting with the dog — they say it immediately lowers blood pressure and it has a calming, therapeutic effect,” Laird said.
Laird’s love for canines goes further than just offering her dog Lincoln as a therapy animal for hospital patients. She also serves as Director of Visual Arts at William Penn University and has done numerous portraits of people’s dogs and other animals. She’s been teaching at Penn since 1991.
When it comes to her portraits of dogs and other animals, Laird said she likes to include as much detail as possible. This includes proper placement things like whiskers and teeth in depicting dogs, for example. Of course, this means numerous hours of work for each animal piece.
Laird also does human portraits, but notes that her approach is different when it comes to depicting people.
“You need to have it realistic enough so it really looks like the person,” explained Laird. “But, it’s OK if you end up flattering them a little bit.”
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Herald City Editor Andy Goodell can be reached at news2@oskyherald.com.
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Related Photos
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Victoria Laird sits at her home with her dogs Sophie, right, Wilson, foreground, and Lincoln. Laird’s dog, Lincoln, serves as a therapy animal for hospitalized individuals. Herald photo by Andy Goodell
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