Martha Penhall and Tinker IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers As members of the UCLA Animal-People Connection, Moorpark resident Martha Penhall and her dog, Tinker, have helped put smiles on the faces of hundreds of hospital patients.

The therapy dog and her human partner journeyed to UCLA’s Intensive Care Unit every other week for eight years to help nurse people back to health.

Tinker, 14, is now too old to visit patients, but her soothing canine charm endures, said Penhall, who cradled the blind and deaf dog in her lap during an interview with the Acorn .

“It’s been proven that animals have a profound effect on people, mentally and physically,” Penhall said.

The adventures of the little dachshund and her owner are featured in the newest “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book, “What I Learned from a Dog.”

In the story “The Tinker Miracle,” Penhall describes how her dog helped inspire a young accident victim to move his fingers when, to prevent Tinker from leaving his side, the patient attempted to reach out for the dog.

The young man had been thought to be paralyzed from the neck down, so the faint movement delighted his mother and his nurse, who immediately began to plan steps toward his recovery, Penhall said.

Jack Barron, director for the Animal-People Connection, which includes about 50 dogs and handlers, said Tinker and Penhall are a talented team of healers.

“Martha has a friendly and outgoing personality, and she really knows how to speak with patients to help get their minds away from why they’re in the hospital,” Barron said.

In addition to visiting patients who are awake, Penhall and her dog were also assigned to visit comatose people because the pair seemed to have a knack for getting through to unconscious patients, Barron said.

“We’ve had people who’ve awakened while the dog was on their bed. We also had patients who didn’t respond, and then, 20 minutes after the volunteer left, they would call out the dog’s name,” he said.

Barron, who’s also a therapy dog owner, said that animal rehabilitation programs should be offered in every American hospital because there’s no downside to it.

“The dogs have a presence, and the patients can feel the presence when they’re severely ill and sick. They make us all happier, even if it’s just for a moment,” he said.

To be in the program, dogs must have a gentle disposition and must interact well with all kinds of people, Barron said.

According to Penhall, Tinker was born to be a therapy dog because she’s not intimidated by people or loud noises. She’s able to relax alongside strangers even in the unpredictable hospital environment.

In 2007, Penhall took Tinker to visit Moorpark resident Breanna Pflaumer, who was recovering from brain surgery at UCLA. The gesture made a positive impression on the young cancer survivor.

“Having a dog come and play with you at the hospital is always such a cheering thing; it’s therapeutic,” said Pflaumer, 19, noting that the visit motivated her to get well so she could return home to be with her own dog.

Penhall and her dog also volunteered for about three years with the Paws for Reading program at the H.P. Wright Library in Ventura. Children think it’s “very cool” to read to a dog, and the experience helps them develop their reading skills and build their self-confidence, she said.

Unlike the rigid environment of a hospital ICU, the library is casual and upbeat, Penhall said. Eighteen dogs take part in the library program, from which Tinker retired in January.

The H.P Wright Library is slated to close soon due to state budget shortfalls.

Members of the Paws for Reading program recently created a 2010 calendar to raise funds for the library. The calendars are being sold for $12 at the library, 59 Day Road in Ventura.