Roscoe The Therapy Dog Goes From Almost Losing His Life To Saving Lives

Most don't forward to the challenges of physical therapy, but things tend to be a little easier with a friend.

“Sometimes kind of the faces that come in and try to make you do something hard when you are already going through a hard time,” said Valir Health Occupational Therapist Jordan Mott. “When people come to us it’s not a happy time in their life, it’s a hard time. They have already been through something traumatic or they’re in a lot of pain, or a lot of depression,” said Mott.

Before Mott pursued occupational therapy, she was interested in animal-assisted therapy. And one day while scrolling on the internet Roscoe popped up.

“I don’t know what he went through before me, but he was set to be euthanized, so, he was in a shelter. He had a rough life,” said Mott.

Roscoe is a mixed-breed Chihuahua. It didn’t take long for Mott to enroll Roscoe in school for animal-assisted therapy, and he excelled, well eventually.

“He growled at every wheelchair and walker we walked by, and I thought oh no,” said Mott. 

But soon Roscoe began to understand his assignment and began putting resistant patients at ease during therapy sessions.

Mott never forces the interactions between Roscoe and the patients, she just lets things happen naturally.

“That was maybe the first time I had seen her smile and just light up like that,” said Mott.

When Roscoe is not assisting with the patients, he’s checking on the staff and looking for snacks.

“The staff fell in love with him, patients fell in love with him, and he gets so excited to come to work now,” said Mott.

And with all he does for the patients and staff a Valir, it’s not clear who got the best deal at home.

“He was from a rescue here in the city. And so, he was a rescue himself. He found me at a low time in my life, and so in a way he was kind of therapy for me,” said Mott.