Sidmouth collie-doodle prepares to make people smile as therapy pet

A Sidmouth pooch is hoping to make people smile after qualifying as a therapy pet.

Polly, a five year-old collie-doodle, has met all the criteria set by charity Pets as Therapy and enjoyed her first outing to Malden House care home this week.

Her owner Pat Hague is a volunteer at Sid Valley Memory Café and said her dog had come a long way from the bouncing puppy she first met.

Pat, a former primary school teacher, said: “She makes us smile every day and we want to share that smile with people who might not have a lot to make them smile.

“She used to bounce until she was four and then she just slowed down and she is just so calm and collect. She was too excitable to be a therapy dog then. She is superb with children.”

Pat says she will approach schools to see if Polly could help encourage children to read in one-to-one sessions as well as visit the memory café and nursing homes.