{"id":874,"date":"2014-03-14T16:32:38","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T21:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/?p=874"},"modified":"2019-05-30T19:09:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T23:09:18","slug":"paying-it-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Paying It Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-875 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg\" alt=\"Quinn1\" width=\"864\" height=\"673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg 864w, https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1-768x598.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Quinn, a Golden Retriever who is part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stjohnprovidence.org\/PetTherapy\/\">St. John Providence health system\u2019s pet therapy program<\/a> at the Oakland Center, didn\u2019t know that he was \u201cpaying it forward\u201d by helping patients through their illness\u2019 and recovery. He was just being a good dog, and doing what he does best: helping those in need. But, as it turns out, that\u2019s precisely what happened.<\/p>\n<p>Last month (February 2014), Quinn suffered from a ruptured cruciate ligament\u00a0in his knee, and was in need of TPLO corrective surgery if he was going to continue with the important work he does at St. John\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>When the staff at OVRS heard about Quinn\u2019s condition, we knew we had to help. \u00a0As a result, on February 22, OVRS\u2019s Dr. Saundra Hewitt performed the surgery on Quinn, free of charge, as a way to say thank-you for all the comfort and good works that Quinn and his fellow therapy animals do for the patients for the St. John Providence health system.<\/p>\n<p>Three weeks later, Quinn is doing great! He\u2019s up and moving and enjoying his \u201ctime off\u201d while his incision heals and he regains his strength. As soon as the risk of infection (for all involved) has passed, Quinn will be back to making his rounds at St. John Providence\u2019s Oakland Center, but now with a special understanding of what it means to be the one in need of care.<\/p>\n<h2><b>St. John Providence\u2019s Pet Therapy Program<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>For those of you who are unaware, the St. John Providence health system offers pet therapy for the patients, visitors, and associates throughout the system. Quinn is one of seven dogs participating in the program, along with Parker, Wilbur, Murphy, Mac, and Lilly.<\/p>\n<p>Together, these incredible animals deliver what is often regarded as \u201cthe best medicine of all,\u201d a warm heart, a wet nose, and a loving touch. These dogs bring comfort, smiles, and peace to those who spend time at the St. John Providence locations.<\/p>\n<p>As therapy animals, each dog has been specially trained by Paradise Dog Training, and has extensive socialization skills. These amazing volunteers are partnered volunteer dog handlers, and work weekday hours. When not working, Quinn and his associates spend time living with host families as regular dogs.<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to contribute to the pet therapy program at St. John Providence health system, please call Heidi Crisman at (248) 465-4511.<\/p>\n<p>Thank-you Quinn, for all you do. And thank-you Dr. Hewitt, for providing Quinn with the care he needed to continue his work.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-876\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn2-300x99.jpg\" alt=\"Quinn2\" width=\"300\" height=\"99\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quinn, a Golden Retriever who is part of St. John Providence health system\u2019s pet therapy program at the Oakland Center, didn\u2019t know that he was \u201cpaying it forward\u201d by helping patients through their illness\u2019 and recovery. He was just being a good dog, and doing what he does best: helping those in need. But, as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[395,581,700,760],"class_list":["post-874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pet-health-wellness","tag-oakland-veterinary-referral-services","tag-pet-therapy","tag-therapy-dogs","tag-volunteering"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Paying It Forward | Oakland Veterinary Referral Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paying It Forward | Oakland Veterinary Referral Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Quinn, a Golden Retriever who is part of St. John Providence health system\u2019s pet therapy program at the Oakland Center, didn\u2019t know that he was \u201cpaying it forward\u201d by helping patients through their illness\u2019 and recovery. He was just being a good dog, and doing what he does best: helping those in need. But, as [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ovrservices\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-14T21:32:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-30T23:09:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"OVRS Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"OVRS Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"OVRS Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/624f934086950c0c4fde65d49fc64823\"},\"headline\":\"Paying It Forward\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-14T21:32:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-30T23:09:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/\"},\"wordCount\":425,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services\",\"pet therapy\",\"Therapy Dogs\",\"volunteering\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pet Health &amp; Wellness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/\",\"name\":\"Paying It Forward | Oakland Veterinary Referral Services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-14T21:32:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-30T23:09:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg\",\"width\":864,\"height\":673},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Paying It Forward\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services\",\"description\":\"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services Blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OVRS_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OVRS_logo.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ovrservices\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/624f934086950c0c4fde65d49fc64823\",\"name\":\"OVRS Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b80b9c3ccfe4b645ff35a623de5c58ef22606b7868bac923ebc89d15ca05c921?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b80b9c3ccfe4b645ff35a623de5c58ef22606b7868bac923ebc89d15ca05c921?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"OVRS Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/author\/ovrs\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Paying It Forward | Oakland Veterinary Referral Services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Paying It Forward | Oakland Veterinary Referral Services","og_description":"Quinn, a Golden Retriever who is part of St. John Providence health system\u2019s pet therapy program at the Oakland Center, didn\u2019t know that he was \u201cpaying it forward\u201d by helping patients through their illness\u2019 and recovery. He was just being a good dog, and doing what he does best: helping those in need. But, as [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/","og_site_name":"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ovrservices","article_published_time":"2014-03-14T21:32:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-30T23:09:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"OVRS Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"OVRS Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/"},"author":{"name":"OVRS Staff","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/624f934086950c0c4fde65d49fc64823"},"headline":"Paying It Forward","datePublished":"2014-03-14T21:32:38+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-30T23:09:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/"},"wordCount":425,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg","keywords":["Oakland Veterinary Referral Services","pet therapy","Therapy Dogs","volunteering"],"articleSection":["Pet Health &amp; Wellness"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/","name":"Paying It Forward | Oakland Veterinary Referral Services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg","datePublished":"2014-03-14T21:32:38+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-30T23:09:18+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Quinn1.jpg","width":864,"height":673},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/paying-it-forward\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Paying It Forward"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/","name":"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services","description":"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services","url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OVRS_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OVRS_logo.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Oakland Veterinary Referral Services"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ovrservices"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/624f934086950c0c4fde65d49fc64823","name":"OVRS Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b80b9c3ccfe4b645ff35a623de5c58ef22606b7868bac923ebc89d15ca05c921?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b80b9c3ccfe4b645ff35a623de5c58ef22606b7868bac923ebc89d15ca05c921?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"OVRS Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/author\/ovrs\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3126,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874\/revisions\/3126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovrs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}