CLEVELAND, Ohio — A pair of well-known Cleveland caregivers have been embarking on a global adventure. The Cleveland Clinic is bringing its social media followers on a behind-the-scenes tour of its facilities at home and abroad, with some help from its main campus golden retrievers.
The facility dogs, Kid and Trotter, spend their days supporting and comforting pediatric patients at Cleveland Clinic Children’s and have become recognizable figures across the main campus.
“Truly they’re like local celebrities here,” said Rachel Hartjen, a Cleveland Clinic child life specialist and Trotter’s handler.
Capitalizing on their popularity, the Clinic recently debuted miniature lookalikes of the dogs. The plush doppelgängers have been touring Cleveland Clinic locations in the U.S. and abroad, highlighting the health system’s staff and facilities.
“Everyone is learning their faces and their roles. But then we can also use the dogs to educate people on what it takes to keep a place like this going every day,” said Molly Gross, child life specialist and Kid’s handler.
Through their adventures the mini Kid and Trotter have visited the palm tree-lined Florida campus, highlighted the nation’s first women-specific center for Alzheimer’s prevention in Las Vegas, touted the sports medicine team in Toronto and glimpsed Buckingham Palace from Cleveland Clinic London. The health system tour, deemed “Paws of Joy,” was inspired by the holiday hijinx of The Elf on the Shelf.
“It kind of allowed for everyone to collaborate and brought us all together, as one big Cleveland Clinic system,” said Hartjen.
Meanwhile, the real Kid and Trotter have been hard at work in Cleveland. Kid, 6, started as the Clinic’s first facility dog after a 2019 grant helped establish the “Dogs for Joy” program. Trotter, 4, joined several years later.
Unlike therapy dogs, which are typically pets with general obedience training that volunteer for limited hours, Kid and Trotter are considered full-time employees at the Clinic. The facility dogs trained for two years to acclimate to a medical environment and learn the necessary skills to support their human counterparts.
“We’re just able to use the dogs to help do our jobs, talk through the hard stuff, prepare kids for procedures in a fun and non-threatening way,” said Hartjen. “Trotter is a big cuddle bug. Really her favorite part of the job is to get up in the bed with our patients.”
Trotter is assigned to the inpatient units at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. Kid works at the Children’s outpatient center.
“When you see a fluffy, smiley golden retriever come up to you it kind of helps set the mood a little bit and he helps build rapport really quickly,” Gross said. “We help normalize the hospital for kids in the hospital.”
Gross and Hartjen said the hospital has seen the benefits Trotter and Kid bring to Cleveland Clinic Children’s and the health system would like to expand its facility dog program with more dogs in different departments.
“It’s really cool to see how they can make such a positive impact,” Hartjen said.
The Paws for Joy campaign will wrap up at the end of December with a “special announcement” from the Clinic. You can follow along with the journey by searching the #PawsforJoy hashtag on social media, following the @clevelandclinic Instagram account or Kid and Trotter’s Instagram account @pawsincle.
