14 February 28 • 2019
jn
Intuitive and Special
Therapy dog Bruno dies at age 14,
leaving behind a comforting legacy.
F
or 12 years, Bruno, a hypo-
allergenic Portuguese Water
Dog, made the rounds with
his master Dr. Leo Eisenberg at the
DNS Oncology Hematology Clinic
at Huron Valley Hospital in Novi. In
fact, many of his patients said they
would only undergo tests or chemo-
therapy if Bruno was there, too.
Sadly, Bruno, who Leo gave to
his wife, Mira Eisenberg, as a pup
for a 60th birthday present, died at
age 14 in early February while the
couple, now retired, were visiting
with friends in Palm Springs Desert,
Calif.
“We are so deeply saddened by
his passing because he provided so
much comfort to every patient he
came in contact with,” said Mira,
who worked at the Novi clinic with
her husband.
Early on, the Eisenbergs did not
want to leave Bruno home all day
while they worked. They decid-
ed his gentle disposition might
be beneficial for their patients.
Within six months of a year-long
training accreditation course from
Alternative Canine Training, Bruno
became the area’
s first canine trained
to relieve stress and anxiety for
patients confronting life-threatening
illnesses.
In his life, he sat by the sides of
hundreds of cancer patients. With
his furry paws and soft brown eyes,
he could distract them from pain
and anxiety while they were under-
going treatments and tests.
After Bruno had been giving
comfort to cancer patients at
Huron Valley, the chief of medicine
at Henry Ford Hospital in West
Bloomfield caught on to the benefits
Leo was seeing in his practice. In
2009, Henry Ford also started using
canines for easing stress and anxi-
ety in their patients. According to
medical officials there, studies have
shown that interacting dogs can
increase levels of oxytocin both in
the animal and the human petting
it, which can increase happiness and
can expedite the growth of new cells.
A JN story featuring the
Eisenbergs and Bruno from June
28, 2007, explained how Bruno was
helping brighten the outlook of can-
cer patients.
Training to be a hospital dog
means dogs like Bruno cannot eat
anything off the floor or beg for
food or attention. They also need
to focus on human social cues to
determine whether a human wants
attention.
“Most of the time, all the patients
wanted Bruno by their side,” Mira
said. “When he looked at you, you
could tell he loved you. Our trainer
[Bonnie Wainz] said in her 40 years
of experience, she never met such an
intuitive dog. He was truly special.”
Mira remembered one brain
tumor patient who was very
depressed. After four days of not
eating and sleeping most of the time,
he perked up with some TLC and
encouragement from Bruno as he lay
in the hospital bed at the patient’
s
side.
“Bruno was kind and perceptive,”
Leo said. “My patients were always
happy to see him. Now, many hospi-
tals see the benefits of therapy dogs
as a way to ease their patients’
stress.
Bruno was ahead of his time. He will
be missed.” ■
jews d
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STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE
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AN EVENING WITH LIZA LONG,
MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE
AND AUTHOR
The Price of Silence
L ng
A Mom’
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on Mental Illness
The Price
of Silence
Liza Long
Foreword by
Harold S. Koplewicz, MD
A Mom’
s Perspective
on Mental Illness
“A courageous, determined, radical book.”
—ANDREW SOLOMON, PhD, author of
The Noonday Demon and Far from the Tree
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After the 2012 Newtown school
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Don’t miss Long’s moving story of
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