Shawna Bishop felt herself slipping into a depression last summer following the death of her beloved beagle, Jackson, just a day shy of what would have been his 16th birthday. So, she drove to the Humane Society of Chittenden County and met a handful of the dogs that were up for adoption, in hopes of finding her next best friend.
One stood out: Dexter, a 95-pound pit bull.
“Well, actually, he’s got several names now,” Bishop, 53, said last week, as Dexter ping-ponged between visitors at her Shelburne apartment. “There’s also Diva Dexter and Dexter Dew,” she added, the latter in honor of her favorite beverage.
Dexter provided Bishop a renewed sense of purpose and a reason to get going each morning. But he is not as well behaved as her previous dog. Dexter had never been taught how to act around people or other animals, causing some of her neighbors to worry that he was aggressive. Bishop was training him to behave, and she figured he’d get there eventually, with the right mix of patience and persistence.
But three weeks after adopting Dexter, Bishop learned that she needed open-heart surgery to fix a birth defect. She’d face months of rehabilitation, during which she’d be unable to walk or train Dexter.
She worried she would have to give him away. But then a caseworker at the hospital introduced her to Blake Randell, a 27-year-old occupational therapist who was looking for people in this situation.
Randell had recently created an at-home program known as Aging in Place with Pets, which connects volunteers to older adults and people with disabilities in need of help caring for their animals. A rotating cast of volunteers began stopping by Bishop’s house to walk Dexter and play with him until she regained her strength.
The volunteers took Dexter to a vet, who prescribed him Prozac for anxiety, and to a dog trainer, who’s been helping Bishop teach him how to be a better canine neighbor. On a recent walk, she successfully deployed one of the new techniques she’s learned: using treats to distract him from a nearby dog. Dexter, who’s prone to barking at other animals and pulling Bishop toward them, remained focused on the treats, and the two continued their walk uninterrupted.
“Once he calms down, he’s really such a good boy,” she said.
The idea for Aging in Place with Pets came to Randell while he was searching for a capstone project to complete his doctoral program at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in Florida. He said he was inspired by his grandfather, Robert Randell, who created a private foundation for animal welfare before dying of COVID-19.
“I kinda combined the two — older adults and pets,” Randell said.
Vermont has no shortage of either, which is why Randell chose the state in 2023 when he was looking for somewhere to launch a pilot program. He moved to Burlington and partnered with Cathedral Square, the senior housing agency, on a four-month project that earned high marks from both his professors and the eight initial participants.
Recognizing its potential, Randell stuck around Vermont and decided to continue the program after he graduated in 2023. He now serves about 45 people in the greater Burlington area, including some who were formerly homeless. (He also offers paid consultations for people who don’t need ongoing support.)
Randell recruits many of his volunteers from local colleges, where students pursuing degrees in animal or human health care are often looking to fulfill volunteer hours. He also performs visits himself, once he clocks out of his full-time job as a school occupational therapist.
His referrals come primarily from housing or home health agencies, though existing participants will occasionally introduce him to a neighbor in need. Most of his human-pet “teams” are clustered within a few independent and assisted-living communities, allowing volunteers to see multiple clients in a short period.
“This has become as much of a mental health program as anything.” Blake Randell
On a recent night, Randell and one of his volunteers, Becca Senior, a rising sophomore at the University of Vermont, spent a few hours at Harrington Village in Shelburne, where more than a dozen participants live.
One is John Chittenden, a 63-year-old man with two cats, Pebbles and Bam Bam. Chittenden suffers from neuropathy that can make it difficult for him to get around. Volunteers have helped him clean his cats’ litter box, trim their nails and take them to the vet.
“Speaking of, next month, vet time for Bam Bam,” Chittenden told Randell, while Pebbles nuzzled against his feet and Bam Bam hid in the bedroom.
The animals aren’t the only ones who benefit. Much like those who participate in Meals on Wheels and other senior-oriented services, the people enrolled in Randell’s program are primarily low-income and on their own. Many are lonely.
“It’s nice for people to see college-age students take interest in them,” Randell said. “This has become as much of a mental health program as anything.”
When Damian Currier, 48, had to put down his two aging dogs, Buddy and Daisy, within a few weeks of each other, volunteers came to his house and sat with him as a vet administered the drugs. One inked a sketch of the dogs that’s now hanging on his wall.
Currier, who has since adopted two new dogs, recently had part of his leg amputated and now uses a wheelchair. He said there are days when pain makes it difficult for him to leave the house.
“Them being able to stop and pick up dog food or something for me, I can’t express enough how much that means,” he said, rolling down the sidewalk with Evie and Trixie in tow.
The program has allowed Linda Crossman, 74, to better support Marley, her 15-year-old “Morkie” — Maltese and Yorkie mix — as he enters the final chapter of his life. Randell recently helped Crossman change Marley’s diet to something easier on the old dog’s stomach. “Animals are fussy, especially when they’re sick,” she said. “But he liked it. He eats it right up.”
Knowing she has someone to call on Marley’s “bad days” makes a world of difference, Crossman said. “It feels like I’m not alone.”
Randell can take on about five new clients right now, he said, but his five-year goal is to increase his volunteer pool enough to serve 100 people, double his current capacity.
He’s reaching out to nonprofits in search of one willing to serve as a fiscal sponsor, which would allow people to make tax-free donations to the at-home program. He’s also brainstorming new ideas, such as a Meals on Wheels-style food delivery program for pets. And he’s striving to foster a sense of community among residents in the buildings he frequents, “so that when we’re not there, they still feel connected.”
The efforts have paid off at Harrington Village, where participants say they’ve gotten to know each other better because of their shared connection to Randell’s program.
“After COVID, our society kind of broke down,” Currier said. “Everybody became distant and kept to themselves in their own space.”
Crossman recently contacted Currier to ask about his experience with aging dogs — and how he knew it was time to say goodbye. Currier helped check in on Dexter when Bishop spent a week out West visiting her ailing father. And Bishop has started a weekly pet-themed arts and crafts group.
Last Thursday night, she set out watercolors and encouraged people to paint a picture of or related to their pets.
Chittenden painted Pebbles and Bam Bam frolicking on a grassy knoll. Bishop painted an array of multicolored, bovine-inspired shapes — Dexter’s black-and-white coat reminds her of a cow. And for Marley, Crossman depicted a green field beneath a sunny sky, with a big heart smack-dab in the middle.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Old Pals | A volunteer-led program in the Burlington area helps people — and pets — age in place”
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This article appears in The Animal Issue 2025.
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