Christy Perry and Macy

This beguiling little terrier mix, a one time unwanted stray, is now changing lives one patient at a time. Her patients simply have to look at her and their frustrations seem to melt away.

Macy and her litter of puppies spent a long time in a shelter. All of her puppies were adopted, but not Macy. Her future didn’t look so bright. But finally her potential was noticed and a local organization stepped in and saved her. Soon she was adopted by her new mom, Christy.

Christy knows just how much a dog can enrich lives. She had witnessed her grandmother becoming a different person after she got a dog. “Not only did she have someone to spend her days with, but she was given unconditional love, making her a much happier person.” Christy herself has cried on the shoulders of many a dog and felt she was no longer battling the world by herself.

Macy makes a difference in many lives at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Institute of San Antonio, where she is a bright and shining star in the Animal Assisted Therapy program. Being used as a modality to reach a specific goal and expectation with a patient every fifteen minutes with a physical therapist, occupational therapist, or speech therapist in attendance is a big job for a little dog whose future was once pretty bleak.

But if you could ask Macy, she would tell you her job isn’t so hard. What’s so difficult about being loved and petted all day but dozens of different people?