Giant Great Dane Stands Outside the Windows of a Quarantined Nursing Home to Cheer up Residents

Tonka the Great Dane therapy dog and Courtney Leigh, of Austin Texas, visit the residents of local nursing homes each week.

During the coronavirus pandemic many nursing homes have started to prohibit visitors, so Leigh had to get creative about how Tonka could continue to cheer up the residents. Last week, the team decided to stand outside the windows of one local nursing home so they could enjoy the massive dog's company from afar.

"He has brought so much joy," Tonka's trainer, Courtney Leigh, told local station KXAN. "We learned that with the recent events all therapy visits will be discontinued for safety purposes, of course, and containment. We really missed our visits, and I thought, what can I do personally, on my own, to try and continue some of the feelgood that this wonderful dog gives to everyone?"

With the pandemic having cut off many seniors from the outside world, some are concerned about what the isolation will do to the mental and physical health of nursing home residents.

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