Pebbles the beagle brings friendliness to residents of Corpus Christi nursing facility

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Pebbles is a friendly visitor to the residents of Villa Corpus Christi Northwest Nursing Home. Pebbles’ owner, Becky Isenberg, takes the dog on regular visits to the facility.

Alberta Waldene Dubose has congestive heart problems and an oxygen tank is her constant companion at night. Sometimes she even has to use it during the day.
   But when her favorite Beagle, Pebbles, comes visiting at Villa of Corpus Christi Northwest, an Annaville assisted-living facility where Dubose has been living for nearly a year, Dubose forgets all about the tank and the tubes that supply her with oxygen.
   "She reminds me of my Tina," said Dubose, pointing to a framed picture of her golden retriever atop a chest of drawers.
   Pebbles elicits the same reaction from Dubose's fellow residents at the facility, said Stella Botello, Villa's activity director.
   "She's better than any dose of medicine," Botello said. "She reminds them of their own pets. They look forward to having her back again and again. Their eyes all light up when she walks through our doors."
   Pebbles and her owner, Becky Isenberg, began visiting Villa last month and the Beagle's visits are now a regular on Villa's activity schedule.
   "I always knew that this is what I wanted to do with her," said Isenberg, who got the AKC Beagle when she was 6 months old. Isenberg's friends, Gail Wilkening and Denise Sproul, whom she met on an Internet bulletin board for beagle owners, gave her Pebbles after her own beagle, Ringo Starr, died of cancer.
   "When I got Pebbles, I thought she was the most laid-back beagle I'd ever seen," Isenberg said. "I knew I didn't want to take her to a children's hospital because so many people are already doing things for them there. My interest was in the elderly."
   Isenberg enrolled Pebbles in obedience school with volunteer work with the elderly in mind.
   Botello has never had any pet therapy dogs brought to the facility until Pebbles. And the match, she said, has turned out better than she'd ever imagined.
   When Pebbles visits, residents gather at Villa's main hall, where Isenberg supplies the residents with treats for her canine.
   When residents can't come to Pebbles, Pebbles comes to them. Those who want a beagle visit simply leave their doors slightly ajar, indicating to Isenberg, as she makes her rounds down the hall, that they'd like to spend time with the floppy-eared visitor.
   "I just love to see their faces light up," said Isenberg, also a volunteer with the American Cancer Society. "It means a lot to me to be able to come here. This is a way I can visit the elderly and give to them."
   Dubose feels just as indebted.
   "Having birds and fish just isn't the same," Dubose said. "Pebbles makes me feel good all over. She's so much company."