Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

Tanya Poff kisses her bull mastiff Rio during Star City Canine Club practice Tuesday evening in Salem. Rio and Poff were finishing their last week of instruction before Rio became a registered therapy dog.

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Donna Lindsey knows that pets can be deeply therapeutic.

For the past 15 years, she has suffered from fibromyalgia, a pain syndrome that causes flu-like body aches, muscle spasms and fatigue. She used to spend almost entire weeks in bed because of the intense pain, but said that her dogs' happy, energetic dispositions motivated her to get out of bed and get better.

"What got me out of bed was the dogs and what gave me hope was the dogs," said Lindsey, whose health has improved considerably in the past two years.

Lindsey wanted to help others through pet therapy, so she enrolled her dog Dixie, a cavalier King Charles spaniel, in a Delta Society Pet Partner class. Dixie passed her final exam "with flying colors" last Saturday.

Jan Stice leads the seven-week class at Roanoke's Star City Canine Training Club.

To enter the class, dogs need to know basic obedience commands such as sit, down and stay.

Then, instructors try to prepare them for situations they may encounter at nursing homes, hospitals and schools.

Assistant trainer Kelly Palmer said the class teaches dogs to be comfortable with clumsy petting, wheelchairs and loud noises as well as different smells such as iodine, urine, tempting sandwiches and alcohol.

Stice stressed that not all dogs are suited for pet therapy and that they need to be relaxed and comfortable in potentially stressful situations. Pet owners also need to know their dogs and how to support them.

Stice became a certified Delta instructor last summer and now fills her days taking her two dogs Crystal and Lucas to visit hospice patients in their homes, seniors in local nursing homes, people in the hospital for rehabilitation, and even children with difficulty reading who practice reading with the dogs.

Like many involved with pet therapy, Stice is amazed at how a dog's visit can affect people, especially those who are sick or terminally ill.

Studies have shown how interaction with pets can reduce blood pressure and other indicators of stress.

Stice remembers when she trained for Carilion's hospice program. She worried whether she could handle visiting people so close to death.

Her first patient was a 27-year-old anorexic woman who lived at her parents' house with her 5-year-old child.

The young woman loved Crystal's visits, and her anxiety would quickly dissipate when she petted the golden retriever-border collie mix.

After the woman never woke up one morning, Stice attended her funeral with Crystal. She clearly remembers the woman's mother saying how much Crystal's visits meant to her daughter.

After that, Stice was hooked.

She remembers another hospice patient who requested a dog shortly before she died. Stice put Crystal in a chair next to the woman who beamed about what a happy day it was while her family videotaped it all.

She died less than 48 hours later.

Stice thinks dogs have an awareness and special understanding of how people feel.

"I think these dogs know a lot more than we sometimes give them credit for," Stice said.

"Animals just seem to have a kind energy, and people seem to feel it," said Lindsey, who is excited for her dog's recent certification.

"It brings me a lot of joy that I can share Dixie's love with other people," she said.