Hospitals pride themselves on being clean, sanitary environments. A pet seems out of place, and most are not allowed on the premises.

However, some members of the Indianapolis Obedience Training Club are allowed to take their dogs to Community Hospital East. Their mission is to visit patients and make their stays there more enjoyable.

For Morgan Dumm, 16, Lauren Carmer, 15, and Kaylee Kinder, 17, all members of the club, Thursday evenings are spent going room to room at the hospital. Starting on the fifth floor and working their way down, they check for patients who want visits from canines.

"If they want to see the dog, you bring them in," said Morgan, a sophomore at Roncalli High School. "They can pet them, or if they really want to, (the dogs) can hop onto their bed."

Community East approached the club 17 years ago to ask about starting a pet-therapy program. Research had shown that pets could improve both a person's physical and psychological health. The hospital and the club -- a nonprofit organization founded in 1938 -- have worked together ever since.

Starts with classes

While other hospitals in the Indianapolis area offer pet-therapy programs, these girls found this service opportunity when they took their dogs to the club for obedience classes. The club offers several levels of obedience training for dogs, and it also trains and certifies dogs for the pet-therapy program.

Kaylee, a senior at Frankin Central High School, said she took the club's beginning obedience class when she got a puppy. Mary Ann Olvey, director of the club, told her about the pet-therapy program. "I liked it and have been here ever since," Kaylee said.

Lauren, an eighth-grader at Perry Meridian Middle School, had a similar experience. "Mary Ann noticed that I liked people and I interacted well with people, and she told my stepmother to bring me along (to pet therapy), and I've been doing it since then," she said.

The obedience club certifies about 15 to 20 dogs annually for work at Community East, said Olvey, who leads the pet-therapy program. They include many breeds, and combinations of breeds, but all have one thing in common: a nice temperament.

The dogs must first pass the club's basic obedience training program, and then have further testing done before they are eligible to visit patients. A thorough evaluation determines how a dog reacts to many situations, including the presence of other dogs or children, jerky handling, food on the floor, loud noises and other distractions.

There is no age limit for the dogs or their handlers, although the handlers must go through the same orientation program and procedures that the hospital requires of all volunteers. Handlers also must be members of the American Kennel Club.

In addition, handlers should have certain personal qualities, including the ability to be outgoing and patient, the girls advised.

"You interact with all kinds of people," Kaylee explained. "Some are really nice, some are quiet and shy. You have to be able to warm up to people really easily and make conversation."

Patients' reactions to the dogs are overwhelmingly positive, the girls say.

"A lot of people want to see the dogs," Morgan said. "Some people are like, 'Oh, look at the dog! He's so pretty!' It's a great reaction. They're so excited."

Studies have shown pet visits often alleviate depression, anxiety and loneliness among patients. They also offer a distraction from pain and help to break the hospital routine.

There are physical benefits to patients as well. A recent study at the UCLA Medical Center indicated that interaction with therapeutic dogs aided heart and lung function in heart failure patients. After visits by a volunteer with a dog, hospital workers tested patients and found their anxiety levels had dropped by 24 percent as well as their levels of epinephrine, a hormone made by the body when it is under stress. In addition, heart and lung pressure were relieved after the visits.

But even if pet therapy offers only psychological benefits, the teens believe it's worth it.

"It helps calm the patient, and if they are an animal lover, they will bond with almost any animal," Lauren said. "If you have a pet yourself and you're in the hospital and you can't see them, it's nice to at least be able to see someone else's dog and pet them."

Kaylee pointed out that many patients also seem happy to see the dog owners.

"Some people are older, and they don't really have anybody that can come and see them, so it's kind of nice just to have someone to talk to because you're just kind of watching TV in a hospital bed, and that gets old really fast," she said.

Two-way street

Pet therapy has helped the girls, too. Morgan said she is naturally shy, and approaching people can be difficult for her. "I'm usually not really good at meeting people for the first time," she said. "Getting to talk to people has made me a little bit more outgoing."

Volunteering at Community East has helped Lauren become less afraid of hospitals.

"My mom was always sick when I was growing up. She was a diabetic, and I hated hospitals. But it's helped me be OK (with them)," she said.

The girls also see pet therapy as one way they can reach out to the community.

"It makes my day to come here because I think, 'Oh, I'm doing something good for other people, and it's not so much about myself,'" Kaylee said. "We don't just do it for the community service hours that we have to have for school or because we get credit for it. If that were the case, we would've stopped a long time ago."

"It just makes you a little bit more aware of everything outside of your own world and gets you out into the reality of the bigger part of life," Morgan added.

REPORTERS: Joi Officer, 12; Meera Patel, 14.