People to Meet: Vickie Cupps and Her Therapy Dogs

When Vickie Cupps clips a black and pink vest onto her dogs, they know exactly what it means: It’s time to go to work.

Cupps volunteers with the Pink Paws therapy dog program at Saint Francis Health System, bringing trained dogs to visit patients, families and staff throughout the hospital. The visits can be brief—a few minutes in a hallway or patient room—but the impact can be lasting.

“Dogs change people’s emotions,” Cupps said. “They help normalize what can be a really scary place.”

Cupps has loved dogs since childhood and has spent decades working with them, raising and training breeds including Samoyeds. Today she often visits Saint Francis with Skye, a nearly 3-year-old Samoyed whose fluffy white coat tends to attract attention wherever she goes.

“One doctor chased me down the hallway once and said, ‘Is that the famous Skye?’” Cupps said with a laugh. “He said Skye is more famous than any of the doctors here.”

Pink Paws teams are carefully tested and trained before visiting hospitals, but Cupps says the most important quality is a calm, social dog paired with a handler who understands both people and animals. Young volunteers can get involved, too. The program’s Junior Pink Paws track allows kids ages 12 to 17 to volunteer alongside their therapy dogs.

Saint Francis patient Scarlett with Skye.

Cupps is part of the Karing K9s group, whose volunteers make regular visits to Saint Francis, Ascension St. John, Laureate and Youth Services of Tulsa.

For patients and staff alike, the visits can provide a welcome moment of comfort. And sometimes, Cupps says, the smallest interactions are the ones that matter most.

“You may not always realize the impact you’ve had,” she said. “But the dogs do something special for people.”