Who doesn’t like seeing a happy toddler wander the halls of a senior center? For one facility in Minnesota, their brand-new friend wandered through the front door with a helping hand. After all, you can’t just let a 250-pound baby run amok. Even if he’s the senior’s new therapy donkey.
“Tiptoe is 2 years old so he’s a little toddler. We still call him a baby,” said Tabeah Brockman, Tiptoe’s Handler.
Tiptoe got his start, Brockman said, as a seeing-eye donkey for a blind donkey. Sadly, the donkey passed, leaving Tiptoe alone. That’s when he was taken in by his new owner, Erin Lawson. She works as a fundraiser for ‘We Can Ride’, a therapeutic riding organization.
Tiptoe the donkey meets residents at a senior community in Minnesota. Photo by Erin Larson
“He’s not your typical donkey,” Larson said. “He’s very calm and very steadfast. We just immediately knew that we needed to go rescue him to be the seeing-eye donkey for my blind horse,” she said. Her 10-year-old horse, Ty, and Tiptoe instantly bonded. “All of us cried,” Larson said. They’re good buddies. We call them brothers.”
However, Tiptoe faced a difficult start at birth. “He was stomped…,” Larson said. “His mom didn’t want to be a mom, and she stomped his four little feet and his neck.” After the trampling, he was rushed to a veterinary ICU at the University of Minnesota. After four months of near-death, he was finally healthy. Since he had been so young, Larson said, he had to be bottle-raised by a rescuer. “So he kind of thinks he’s a person,” she said.
He earned his name because he will occasionally walk on the tip of his hooves. He loves being with people, which is why Larson takes the happy and snuggly donkey for weekly visits to the local senior living centers. “He tends to tap into something deep down inside and get them talking,” Larson said.
It’s just really cool how somehow a little donkey connects with them on a different level.”
Once Tiptoe gets to the senior center, she said he walks around “and he’ll zero in on someone and goes in and he asks for hugs, kisses. He’ll come straight up to your lap and he drapes his head over your shoulder and just snuggles in. It’s really special.” But his cuddles don’t stop there, Tiptoe also gets to visit with school children, as well.
Tiptoe the donkey meets residents at a senior community in Minnesota. Photo by Erin Larson
“He’s got a bit of a following around the Twin Cities,” Larson said, smiling. What makes Tiptoe special, she said, is his genuine kindness and his will to live even after his mother refused him. “He survived — and no one thought he would — and now he’s paying it back and giving back to all the people who have showered him with love. I think there’s a lot of joy in that,” Larson said.
For Diana Yaeger, the Life Engagement Manager at New Perspective Senior Living, it raises the spirits of the residents. “Giving them an opportunity to see an animal like this, where they live in our community. It’s just amazing,” Yaeger said. “It’s very special to see the smiles and to see the old people just being happy.” Brockman said. Watch below to see Tiptoe in action.
