The ‘Doc’ is in: Assistance dog provides comfort to patients with cancer
Angela Allen remembers the first day she met Doc, a hospital facility dog at Oregon Health & Science University.
She was two years into treatment for colon cancer, getting chemotherapy at the hospital’s South Waterfront Campus. As the medicine seeped through her veins, she felt a familiar fatigue, nausea and metallic taste in her mouth set in.
Then she heard a jingling sound. She knew instantly what it was.
“I asked my nurse, ‘Is there a dog in here?’” said Allen, 47, who lives in Tigard with her husband, two children and a goldendoodle.
There was a dog in the infusion center that day, a yellow labrador named Doc. He’d been on the job at OHSU since January 2026 as part of the hospital’s partnership with Assistance Dogs Northwest, or ADNW.
“When he popped his head into my room, every thought of cancer just melted away,” Allen said. “Doc has these sweet, big brown eyes and this big block head, and he comes and lays it on your lap, and everything just disappears from your mind. All you’re focused on is giving him cuddles.”
Indeed, Doc’s OHSU badge bears his title: Director of Cuddles. And he seems to intuitively know who needs his attention the most.
That day, Allen noticed he spent quite a bit of time with her 17-year-old son, who was having a tough time.
“That’s one thing I love about Doc. I have different people come with me to chemo — my husband, my friends, my kids,” she said. “And they often get forgotten. They’re pretending to be happy for my benefit, but they’re also dealing with heaviness and sorrow. Doc senses what they’re going through, and he acknowledges them.”
Better with Doc
Doc has brightened the day of hundreds of patients since he was matched with OHSU Infusion Nurse Manager Trish Silbernagel, M.S.N., RN, TCTCN, as his handler.
After a week of intensive training at the ADNW Washington campus on Bainbridge Island, Silbernagel brought Doc home to live with her. She brings him to work with her four days a week, and said it’s been remarkable how much he’s bonded with the oncology nurses and support staff.
“I’d bring him onto the floor in the morning, and the nurses would line up to see him,” she said. “At first, we were like, well maybe after the initial excitement wears off, he’ll have less staff interaction. But no — the staff needs him just as much today as when he started. I hear it all the time that he’s made their lives so much better. They never want to go work anywhere else, because we have Doc here.”
When nurses have a tough day, Silbernagel said they’ll come find Doc in her office and spend some time with him.
“A few tears, a snuggle with Doc, and they feel better. They can go back to work in a better mental place,” Silbernagel said.
And she gets to interact with patients again, in an overwhelmingly positive way.
“I love making the rounds with Doc,” she said. “It was a big responsibility at first, and it took some getting used to. But we’ve found our groove, and it’s very gratifying to see the difference Doc makes for just about anybody who comes into contact with him.”
Silbernagel said even the patients who don’t touch Doc smile, just from seeing him. One 2023 study by the Virginia Piper Cancer Center found that 100% of patients surveyed felt therapy dogs helped with anxiety and relaxation. Anxiety levels decreased by 31% after a therapy dog visit and relaxation levels increased by 25%.
The difference a dog can make is something Maureen Maurer has seen over and over again, as founder and executive director of ADNW.
“There’s no other species we have this kind of relationship with,” Maurer said. “Dogs understand us so well. They can see when we’re suffering, and they’re truly compassionate. Anywhere there’s human suffering, dogs can make it better.”
Doc’s journey to OHSU
The partnership between ADNW and OHSU began about 15 years ago, when Maurer helped place the first hospital facility dog at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
Today, Darby and Casey, two yellow labs (Darby is Doc’s sister) have more than 2,500 Instagram followers (@dogsofdoernbecher), and they comfort and delight children every day. And Doc and Darby do get together for regular playdates.
Doc was the most laid back of all his littermates, and did well learning the more than 90 commands service dogs must master.
“Visit” means he puts his chin on a lap. “Snuggle” means he hops carefully onto a hospital bed and lays next to a patient. “Lap” means he puts the top half of his body on a lap. “Fist bump” means he smooshes his wet nose against a fist. But perhaps his favorite thing to do is to melt onto a patient’s feet, and look up at them as if to say, “pets please?”
Initially, he was slated to go to the Middle East to serve with the U.S. Army. ADNW dogs work in many capacities besides hospitals, as service dogs for people with disabilities and as critical team members alongside crisis responders.
But when the time drew near for Doc to get on a military transport plane, Maurer said her organization had a gut feeling that he needed a calmer environment.
“Every one of our dogs has a different personality, and we are very attuned to that,” she said. “Each one has a special purpose, and it’s our job to help them find it.”
Watching ADNW dogs grow into their roles is an amazing process, Maurer said. Doc’s intuition and calming effect is no surprise to her; once placed, her dogs go above and beyond.
“Not every dog can handle being in a hospital all day. It can be stressful and tiring. Doc is really well-suited to it, because he loves people, but he is also quite stoic. He can handle an emotionally charged or draining environment, and not absorb it. He’s got a very calm temperament, low energy. He doesn’t get too excited or distracted.”
He also has excellent body awareness, Maurer said. He’s gentle and doesn’t knock things over or disturb cords or tubes. He avoids bandages and IVs and focuses on people. He’s a happy dog and loves to smile.
A good boy bringing joy
The irony that an 8-week-old puppy named Doc grew up to work in a hospital isn’t lost on Silbernagel.
“It was meant to be,” she said.
Silbernagel makes sure that Doc has a good work-life balance. His blue vest is his cue that he’s “on the job.” And the minute it comes off, he gets the zoomies just like any other dog.
“Yeah, he goes crazy for about half an hour when we get home,” she said. “He gets it all out, he’s able to just be a dog and do dog things.”
For Allen, knowing she’ll get to see Doc makes the long days of chemotherapy somehow tolerable.
“On those infusion days, every time someone walks into my room, I know they’re going to ask me how I’m feeling. I get great care and I appreciate it, but the whole day, I’m focused on one crummy feeling after another,” Allen said.
“When Doc walks in, I don’t have to explain anything. It’s a different way of showing how much you care for another being, and I really appreciate that OHSU recognizes that.”
Her own dog, a goldendoodle named Eddie, has become her “Velcro dog” since she was diagnosed. She said she knows she can’t bring Eddie into the hospital with her, but Doc is the next best thing.
“If I had to describe Doc in a few words — love is the first word that comes to my mind,” Allen said. “And soft; he has the softest ears. And joy. I mean, you see him and it’s just this instant smile, he doesn’t even have to do anything. He’s just a goofy boy. A good boy. And he brings people joy.”