 |
Nose to Nose: A Memoir of Healing |
Nose to Nose is a memoir
about healing. Recovering from emergency
surgery in a foreign country, Barry Schieber finds
himself buying a puppy to bring back to Montana. He had
never thought of owning a dog, any dog - let alone one
that will soon tip the scales at over a hundred pounds.
>
MORE |
Nose to Nose: A Memoir of Healing
by Barry J. Schieber
Pet therapy has become increasingly popular in this country. Two official terms are now used for this practice:AAA,or Animal Assisted Activities, and AAT, or Animal Assisted Therapy. Both are widely used for those who need a kind touch, a laugh or a lick. Dogs, cats, rabbits, even llamas, along with their humans, visit the sick, infirm and lonely.
Pet therapy as a job is, apparently, quite wonderful for Moritz, a 100-pound Bernese mountain dog who visits patients at a hospital in Missoula, Montana, with his human, Barry J. Schieber. The author’s memoir, Nose to Nose, is the story of their earliest days of this avocation and a tribute of thanks from the author to his beloved dog companion.
Every Tuesday, they visit the hospital and, before and after each visit, Moritz is treated to a run in the nearby park. He even gets his own homemade biscuits from a staff member. Moritz is the largest – and probably one of the gentlest - of the hospital’s visiting animal therapists.
What the gentle giant does is touch his nose to a human’s hand or even face, or lay his large, expressive face on a lap. It’s that simple, and it works. Some people who have not moved much or spoken in months react quite strongly to Moritz’s short visit. The patients are between the ages of five and ninety, in varying physical and mental conditions. Some remain in the hospital for a long time; others are in and out quite quickly. Most seem to admire – even love – Moritz.
The Bernese mountain dog once carried items for weavers, butchers, dairy farmers and toolmakers. Long popular in Europe, where it originated (Bern, Switzerland), the breed has been in this country since 1936. It has several older names: the Cheese Factory Dog, the Cheesery Dog, The Butcher’s Dog or the Farmer’s Dog. In France, it is called Bouvier Bernois. This canine is one of the most beautiful of the breeds, distinguished by its silky tri-color coat. The dog, with its double coat and friendly, laid-back disposition, generally weighs in at around 75 to 85 pounds. It prefers colder climates; true to form, Moritz comes most alive in the fall and winter.
Schieber bought Moritz while in Switzerland recovering from a bout with cancer. European-bred dogs often live longer than those bred in the United States, presumably because of superior diet and perhaps fewer vaccinations. Schieber had had no intention to obtain a dog, certainly not such a large one. However, from the tales he tells, he doesn’t regret the decision. The dog remains an inspiration.
Although some dogs become stressed or depressed after animal therapy, apparently Moritz has experienced no ill effects. He is sometimes a bit bored, but a romp in the park seems to restore his positive energy. As of the end of the book, he is healthy, well and greatly beloved by all whom he (literally) touches.
Nose to Nose is a quick read at only 111 pages and one or two paragraphs per page. The cover illustration/photo of Moritz by Bob Denison is beautiful. However well-written, the book’s audience isn’t entirely clear to this reader. Schieber has subsequently written three picture books about Moritz ( A Gift to Share, 2005; An Open Heart, 2006; A Peaceful Mind, Travels with Moritz, 2007)), but this seems to be geared toward older children and adult readers.
If it is indeed intended for teen or adult readers, my only criticism is that I would like more background on the individual patients and on Moritz himself. The language is spare, the portrait of each patient tiny. How does Moritz react to these sessions? What else does he do in life? And how has he so greatly improved the life of Schieber outside of working as a team in these sessions? (Perhaps the latter is revealed in one of the picture books, next to be read and reviewed.)
That said, I like this book a lot and was touched by Moritz’s instinctive kindness and gentleness. I would recommend it to readers who love dogs, to those who believe wholeheartedly in “pet therapy,” and to those who are considering a Bernese mountain dog as a companion. The slim book is a testament to some of the great work dogs do for humans.
- Deborah Straw :: Curled Up With A Good Book
|
|
TOP OF PAGE
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
|
|
A
Gift to Share: The Story of Moritz |
A Gift to Share is a
book about generosity. The story follows the adventures of Moritz the puppy as
he moves from Switzerland to Montana and learns to be a
therapy dog.
>
MORE |
A Gift to Share: The Story of Moritz
by Barry J. Schieber, illustrated by Mary Garbe
If the cover of A Gift to Share: The Story of Moritz doesn’t draw you in, this story may not be for you. But the adorable, chubby Bernese mountain dog puppy, surrounded by a border of colorful wildflowers, and the red background of the book made it oh-so-inviting to this reader. I was not disappointed. By the way, this is a true story.
Author Barry Schieber found Moritz, his dog, in Switzerland, where Schieber was recovering from an illness. This is the first in a series of three children’s picture books about that special canine, who has become a successful pet therapy dog. The book is inscribed “to the generosity in us all,” as Moritz is obviously a loving, generous dog with a placid, playful temperament. If you know these gentle giants, you will also know that they are among the most beautiful of the dog breeds.
The story is told in the first person by Moritz, who was born in the Swiss Alps to a mother named Deika. Early on, Deika whispered to him, "You have a gift to share. You can help to heal people and make them happy." Moritz at a young age realizes that he does, indeed. When a middle-aged American man from Montana comes to look at the pups, Moritz feels that he looks gentle: “Right away I felt at home in his arms.” It is hard to leave his family and harder still to fly in an airplane to his new home. But he sleeps through the trying time and loves his new home “with forests, lakes and snow everywhere.” They walk, and “I grew and grew and grew,” reflects Moritz.
They attend obedience classes, and when Moritz is about one year old, his human companion asks him it he’d like to try visiting people in the local hospital. Moritz takes to the work like a lab takes to the water, and he becomes certified to do this work. This book provides a good introduction to the breed and to some of the healing work therapy that animals can do.
A Gift to Share is a charming book with beautiful, vivid illustrations and tender words. The only possible danger to this book is that many kids who like dogs and read it may start asking for a Bernese mountain dog of their own. Warning: These dogs have a thick, double coat and weigh in at 75 pounds and up.
- Deborah Straw :: Curled Up With A Good Book
|
|
TOP OF PAGE
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
|
|
An Open Heart: A Story about Moritz |
An Open Heart is a story
about kindness that Barry learned from Moritz.
>
MORE |
An Open Heart: A Story about Moritz
by Barry J. Schieber, illustrated by Hedvig Rappe-Flowers
An Open Heart is the third book by Barry J. Schieber about Moritz, the beautiful Bernese mountaindog from Switzerland. He lives in Montana with Schieber and has become a therapy dog. As a canine, he is large, handsome, gentle and generous - and he has stolen a part of my heart.
In this book, Barry and Moritz take a walk in the mountains near their home. They go on well-traveled and less-hiked trails; they smell flowers; they see squirrels and chipmunks. They enjoy being together outdoors and share a picnic lunch, both eating cheese as Moritz tells us, “We Swiss dogs love cheese.”
At a certain point, they come across a lovely doe – and then suddenly there is a small lump of something smack in front of Moritz. What it is? Leaves? A pile of dirt? A small animal? Without giving the entire plot away, suffice it to say it is alive and the encounter forms the crux of this story. From Moritz’s reaction to this tiny thing, Barry learns yet another lesson in kindness and tolerance. When you read Schieber’s books, you will see a pattern – of how much the dog has helped the man, not the other way around, although I am sure it is a mutually beneficial relationship.
So many wars are being waged around the world, some of them unjust or unnecessary. This book may provide another perspective of what is possible in relationships, human and otherwise. Those of us who live with and love animals know that some important knowledge can only be gained from the non-human animals.
Moritz will charm you. The illustrations in this book, as in the previous volumes, are highly colorful and striking. Just watch those temptations to get such a Bernese mountain dog yourself – unless you want to live with a big, possibly expensive dog, albeit a loving and generous companion.
- Deborah Straw :: Curled Up With A Good Book
|
|
TOP OF PAGE
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
|
|
A Peaceful Mind: Travels with Moritz |
A Peaceful Mind is a
story about patience.
>
MORE |
A Peaceful Mind: Travels with Moritz
by Barry J. Schieber, illustrated by Tracey Dahle Carrier
This is the fourth in a series of book about this beautiful, intelligent and kind Bernese mountain dog, Moritz, born in Switzerland. He lives with the books’ author, Barry J. Schieber. The dog has made a huge impact on the author’s life. Moritz has also become a trained therapy dog.
In A Peaceful Mind, Barry and Moritz go traveling in Europe. They stay in hotels, they eat picnics featuring cheese (which Bernese mountain dogs apparently favor), and they take mountain hikes. They even ride up a mountain in an enclosed gondola (Moritz prefers gondolas to escalators, he has determined). Moritz travels on trains and buses, as well, and hikes like a trooper. Being a large dog, he is often crowded into small spaces on these various modes of transportation, but he does not complain: "Big dogs don’t have a whole lot of choice. But I don’t mind."
Although once again Moritz provides lessons in life for his human companion, this book is my least favorite of the lot. The adage of “show, don’t tell” comes to mind. Overall, in this book, Moritz, despite a few inconveniences, is greatly enjoying himself. The lesson he teaches his human isn’t quite obvious enough, making this story is less magical than the previous three.
That said, it is still a good tale, expanding kids’ minds to other countries and ways of life. The illustrations are, as in the other three volumes, lovely. Schieber has worked with a different illustrator for each of his books; it is kind of him to spread the work around. (And who wouldn’t want to spend time with Moritz?) The cover painting on this one is especially beautiful, as is a charming two-page spread of Moritz’s front half and a great Dane’s back half; both dogs are boarding a city bus.
- Deborah Straw :: Curled Up With A Good Book
|
|
|
 |
Moritz has had lots of adventures
since appearing in Nose to Nose. Read about them here
and use the menu at left for other adventures. |
|
 |
Moritz and Barry often receive
letters from readers, patients, and others who have been
affected by Nose to Nose and pet therapy. |
|
 |
To go with our book A Gift to
Share we have a project just for kids. You can
download a pdf of Moritz's paw print, print it, and
color in your very own gifts to share.
|
|
|
|
