Beyond the medicine cabinet and across the city is a remedy that has sick people feeling better. It walks on four legs and doesn’t care if you’re contagious.

People suffering from chronic illness and those recovering from a hip or knee surgery inside Ingraham Manor know this well. When Doug and Lilly come through the North Main St. nursing facility, patients greet the therapy dogs with every ounce of love they can muster.

Sarah Jeffery’s dog Lilly comes three times a week and Assistant Vice President and Administrator Jonathan Neagle brings his dog Doug as much as he can.

“It’s great sensory stimulation for lower-functioning individuals,” Community Relations Manager Noreen Schmidt pointed out. “Short-term residents are used to having their pets at home so it’s important for them to have that interaction. You have other residents who won’t ever come out of their rooms but they will when they see the dogs. For depression, it’s an alternative to medication.”

Resident Roger Madore’s family members bring dog bones along when they visit, so he always has an ample supply in his room.

“I used to have German shepherds,” Madore said on a recent afternoon, instructing Doug and Lilly to sit before he gave them their treats.

Lilly went through Canine Good Citizen Certification at a place called Tails-U-Win in Manchester. This training is also offered at Camp Canine and Beyond Borders Dog Training in Bristol.

Doug was “homeschooled” by Neagle, who educated himself and his pet. Doug had lots of introductions to different types of people and environments before he ever stepped foot inside Ingraham Manor. That was years ago. Now staff and residents are very familiar with the two friendly pups.

“We wanted to make sure he met people and other dogs who were docile and aggressive, so he could learn how to react calmly in any situation,” Neagle explained. “He’s gotten to know people here so well he understands how to approach them. If I don’t bring him on his scheduled day I hear about it,” he added with a laugh.

Therapeutic Recreation Specialist Sue Paris accompanies the pair through the building, visiting different rooms to say hello. Residents will often stop the group in the halls or elevators, a greeting usually followed by an adoring pat.

Edney Minor, president of the home’s Resident Council, said she loves seeing the dogs.

“It brightens up my day. I’m reminded of when I had my dog, Queenie.”

“It makes me happy,” added Gina Megquier, another resident.

Patients at the 128-bed skilled nursing facility have grown to love interacting with the non-human visitors.

“We initially brought the program in as an adjunct to therapeutic recreation, to provide individual stimulation to residents who wanted to stay in their rooms,” Neagle remembered. “We were pleased to see it actually became a stimulus to get people out of their rooms.”

Another pair of volunteers can be found across downtown Bristol, over Federal Hill and into a place where good cheer has proven health benefits.

Sarah Ludecke’s Portuguese water dogs Pippen and Tailer are regular visitors to the Cancer Center and Barnes Inpatient Behavioral Health Unit at Bristol Hospital. A low-shedding breed, these are ideal visitors to people with allergy sensitivities.

“The dogs love it and I love sharing my dogs with people,” Ludecke said. “I could be having a bad day and then I come here and it makes me feel great.”

Barnes’ patients suffer from mental illness and psychiatric ailments that can make interaction with other humans a challenge. These fluffy black dogs have won many hearts, taking special care with those in this unit.

“It could be somebody that’s never spoken before, and their whole demeanor just changes,” Ludecke noted. “All of a sudden this person will be on the floor face-to-face with the dogs and start talking about how they want a dog as soon as they’re able to get one.”

Not only are Tailer and Pippen both Canine Good Citizens, but Ludecke says their temperaments are well-suited to this type of work.

“Tailer is very sensitive, protective of people. He can sense when someone is feeling sad and he’ll go up to them. Pippin is happy-go-lucky and makes you laugh.”

Volunteer Services Representative Cindy McCool is willing to welcome others into the hospital’s pet therapy program, as long as they have the proper training.

“If you are interested you have to have the certification and be licensed and insured,” she said.

This is crucial in a hospital setting, where animals would typically be prohibited. An exception is the service variety, protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Legal provisions allow disabled people to be accompanied by their animals in planes, restaurants, hotels and housing situations. Accommodating facilities may not pose questions about a person’s disability or ask to see certification. They may only inquire whether yours is a service animal and what tasks it performs.

Tailer, Pippen, Lilly and Doug are more closely related to Emotional Support Animals (ESA), which provide therapeutic benefits to their owners and relief from conditions like depression, autism, social phobias, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. The ADA does not offer protections to people with an ESA, although they are covered under the Air Carrier Access Act and Fair Housing Act.

An uptick in the number of Emotional Support Animals travelling on flights has led airlines to begin instituting policies the last few months. Not every animal with a vest and harness has the training that gear represents, and not every handler is in it for the right reasons, proponents say. In fact, the equipment and certification for ESAs is now readily available over the internet, with little to no verification.

“This is particularly bothersome to someone like me who went through the training with my dogs,” Ludecke said of the people who try to falsely pass off their pets as therapy or service animals.

Retired pediatrician Dr. Ellen Leonard owns a therapy dog for the benefit of others. Chihuahua Ruby is a Canine Good Citizen. She and Leonard travel across the region, visiting nursing homes and rehabilitation centers to provide good cheer to sick and elderly people. Shady Oaks in Bristol is a weekly destination.

“She loves people and people love her,” Leonard said of Ruby. “It’s amazing to look at their faces when she comes into the room. They just light up.”

Ruby’s training involved sensory overload: being confronted by multiple people, smells and sounds at once. Now when put in these environments during her volunteer duties, she reacts calmly and without aggression.

“When people are yelling and screaming she can let someone give her a full body hug,” Leonard said.

Untrained animals might be hostile to a sight as simple as a brightly-colored shirt.

“If you have animals who aren’t socialized to be around humans other than their owner they could bite or bark,” Leonard said. “People go on the internet and get a vest but their animal is not trained. It’s a huge problem and it gives a bad name to real service animals.”

There is no Connecticut law on falsely claiming that a dog is a service dog, though at least 14 states prosecute phony handlers.

Ludecke pointed out that untrained animals could prove dangerous in a hospital or nursing home environment, which Tailer and Pippen have grown accustomed to.

“I know my dogs are one-hundred percent reliable to be around any person in any situation,” she said. “Someone can be obnoxious or screaming and there is nothing that will get them going. I love that I can trust them one-hundred percent.”