Great Dane puppy Wren is training to step in for aging Hulu, a St. Cloud Hospital favorite.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The difference in the life span of humans and dogs is one of nature’s cruelest imbalances.
No one needs to tell Wayne Chmelik. With a graying Great Dane named Hulu keeping step beside him, Wayne knows the unfairness firsthand.
“That’s going to be hard,” he says. “That’s going to be difficult.”
Wayne also knows Hulu’s passing will have ripples far beyond his home and yard.
Hulu is a beloved therapy animal at the CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital. His stature alone stops people in their tracks as Hulu navigates the hospital hallways with Wayne.
“You’re like a little horse,” one captivated hospital visitor says.
“You look like a miniature donkey,” says another.
Hulu seems to inspire animal analogies.
“Holy cats, there’s a big dog out there,” exclaims a patient’s mother-in-law upon Hulu’s entry into the family lounge.
Despite his size, Hulu’s gentleness is on display as he nuzzles Leah Anderson. The Clearwater, Minnesota, mom became a premature patient when the twin boys she’s carrying teased an early arrival.
“Tomorrow I’ll be here for four weeks,” she says. “Being in here gets lonely.”
A visit from Hulu, Leah says, “brings me joy and happiness.”
Wayne wishes there’d be no end to the happiness Hulu brings to the hospital. Yet, he knows it’s a matter of time.
“This is a Great Dane, probably toward the end of his days,” Wayne says.
Life expectancy for a Great Dane typically ranges between 8 and 10 years.
“He’ll be 8 in April,” Wayne says somberly.
The sad reality of Hulu’s advancing age was made real last year, when Hulu’s sister Tootsie — also a hospital regular — died of cancer.
Wayne glances at Hulu, asleep at his feet. “I don’t know who took it harder, me or him,” he says.
Lately, Hulu has been losing weight. Once 180 pounds, the Dane is down to 155.
Wayne knew he couldn’t wait any longer, which is why he’s come to the Paynesville Health Care Center with a Great Dane puppy at the end of his leash.
“This is Wren,” Wayne says, introducing Tootsie’s granddaughter. “She weighed 23 pounds at 8 weeks, and now she’s 123 – a puppy at 12 months.”
Wayne guides Wren between nursing home residents. Carol Heitke takes Wren’s snout in her hands and kisses her on the forehead.
“I love you,” she tells the young Great Dane.
“When a dog and a person do this, it’s called ‘a lock,’“ Wayne explains. “Nobody else in the room but those two right now.”
The nursing home has allowed Wayne to bring Wren in to get the experience she’ll need to pass the therapy animal registration process required by the hospital.
It helps that Wayne was not a stranger at the nursing home.
“These are the staff that took care of my wife for years,” he says.
Wayne used to bring Tootsie and Hulu to the nursing home to visit Pat, Wayne’s wife, in memory care before she died two months before Tootsie.
“She would say, ‘My babies are here,’” nursing assistant Kathy Olson says. “She loved her puppies.”
Before she loved Wayne, Pat loved Great Danes. For years, she competed with the dogs in shows, and eventually introduced Great Danes to her husband.
Spend any amount of time with Wayne, and it becomes clear he isn’t just bringing his dogs to the nursing home and hospital for others.
“They have been my island, they have been my safe space,” Wayne says of Hulu and Wren. “They’re my therapy.
Back at the hospital, Wayne brings Hulu to the cafeteria for a cup of ice cream.
“This is his reward for being such a good dog,” Wayne says.
Most of the ice cream winds up in Hulu’s mouth, but there is plenty on the floor, too.
A kitchen worker comes to the rescue.
“We’re going to let her mop the floor now,” Wayne says with a laugh.
He knows the hospital visits with Hulu will one day come to an end, possibly unexpectedly, so Wayne treasures each one.
He hopes Hulu’s health holds until Wren is ready to step in.
“The more experiences that I can give her, the greater the chance that she’s going to be a good therapy dog,” Wayne says.
He should know, having already worked with the best.
Editor’s note: Interested in volunteering your pet as a therapy animal? There’s a national organization that can help you get started. Click here for more information.
Revisit your favorite moments from Boyd Huppert’s Land of 10,000 Stories by subscribing to Land of 10,000 Stories: The Complete Collection on YouTube.
Boyd Huppert is always looking for great stories to share in the Land of 10,000 Stories! Send us your suggestions by filling out this form.
link