When she enters a room, her excitement and eagerness to entertain others overwhelms the space and the people in it.Usually dressed to impress, she greets longtime friends and strangers the same way — with a contagious enthusiasm for connection. Her personality is much larger than her 7-pound frame. Her joy in making friends easily attracts strangers.

Her name is Pocket and she and her human parent, Janet M. Moses, visit local hospitals, nursing homes and retirement communities in Metro Richmond as volunteers with the Richmond SPCA’s Paws for Health pet visitation program.

The duo visits with patients individually and in groups, where the 5-year-old Chihuahua-terrier mix does tricks and allows people to pet her and fawn over her outfits designed by Ms. Moses.

“People like her kisses and tricks,” Ms. Moses says, noting there are about 40 tricks in Pocket’s repertoire, including rolling over, playing dead, picking up her toys and putting them away and riding a skateboard.

“Most people like her to say her prayers,” Ms. Moses says.

She’s also teaching Pocket to knock over bowling pins and to play the piano. Studies of programs like Paws for Health have been shown to help patients by lowering blood pressure, improving cardiovascular health, decreasing feelings of isolation and depression, encouraging communication, reducing boredom and loneliness and much more.

Ms. Moses, who has been participating in the SPCA’s program for four years, sees the happiness Pocket brings to people. Pocket’s bubbly personality and tail wagging can get people out of their shells if only for a few minutes.

“I like to see the spark in people’s eyes when they see Pocket,” Ms. Moses says. “I enjoy hearing their stories and laughter.” Ms. Moses recounted how, during a regular visit to an assisted living facility, she and Pocket encountered a new patient who had Alzheimer’s disease. As the patient petted Pocket, he talked with Ms. Moses about dogs he had owned during the course of his life, getting into specific details about their names and breeds.

The staff later told Ms. Moses that Pocket’s visit elicited the most they’d heard the man speak since he entered the facility.

In a different instance, a 4-year-old special needs child whose communication consisted of only 10 words added the word “dog” to his vocabulary after an interactive visit with Pocket.

“I view volunteering with Paws for Health as a ministry,” Ms. Moses says. “Every visit we make, there are lots of smiles.”

Pocket has always had a special, engaging personality that can make any challenges a little easier. “She’s always like this,” Ms. Moses says. “I saw this in her (when she was a puppy) and I thought, ‘I’ve got to share her.’ ”

Ms. Moses and Pocket both went through training before being accepted as volunteers with Paws for Health. Ms. Moses says she was required to shadow an existing team without Pocket to see how the pet visitation process works. Next, she and Pocket did a visit where they were shadowed by a Paws for Health observer. Ms. Moses and Pocket then were evaluated and found to be a good fit for the program.

The volunteering duo often travel together, Ms. Moses says, adding she’s never lonely with her fur baby at her side. “Pocket filled a void when my children moved away,” Ms. Moses says, speaking of her two adult sons who now live in New York and South Korea. “The value of her companionship is immeasurable. As cliché as it may sound, Pocket rescued me from loneliness. I am never lonely with Pocket around.

“My sons are a little jealous,” she continues, “but I remind them that Pocket never talks back. I can tell her anything and she will not repeat it.”

Meet this week’s Personality and invaluable volunteers, Janet M. Moses, and Pocket:
Date and place of birth: March 14 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Current home: Henrico County.

Alma mater: Saint Leo University, B.A. in business administration.

Family: Husband, George Moses, and two sons, Nahshon, who is a career Army serviceman stationed in South Korea, married with four children, and Kay’Vion Sire, a music artist/engineer living in New York City.

Type of pets involved in Paws for Health: Dogs of all breeds and sizes who are capable of passing the Canine Good Citizen and therapy dog evaluations.

When and why you and Pocket became volunteers for Paws for Health: She has always been a people magnet. Pocket’s vet said Pocket would be a great therapy dog and told me about the Richmond SPCA Paws for Health. I researched therapy dogs and I knew I had to share my fur baby with others. I was already training Pocket in basic obedience, but now I had a goal — to train her as a therapy dog.

Does Pocket ever let you know she is not up to her job on a particular day? There have been times when a visit has lasted more than an hour and Pocket becomes less cooperative. Her tail wags less, her ears are back and she will not do any tricks. I know her limitations and I will end the visit.

Pocket’s favorite snack: Cheese. When I am teaching Pocket a new trick and we are not making much progress, I get out the cheese and that seems to open her learning faculties.

Pocket’s favorite toy: Anything that squeaks. She will hold a toy in her mouth and squeak it for what seems like hours.

Pocket’s favorite outfit: Pocket likes any outfit that doesn’t make her butt look big.

Song Pocket likes to sing/dance to: Pocket’s musical taste is eclectic. She likes everything — jazz, rock and roll, R&B, country, gospel and easy listening. It really depends on her mood and how much she has had to eat.

What Pocket means to my family and me: She truly is my road dawg. She is my fur baby and she makes me want to be the person that deserves all the love she gives.

When Pocket knows she is making someone happy she: Gives the wettest, sloppiest puppy kisses and her tail wags so fast I think she may take flight.

Best advice given to me: Treat everyone the way you want to be treated.

Nobody knows that I: Wrote a children’s book about Pocket that I hope to one day publish.

Person who influenced me the most: My mother was my first teacher and my greatest influence. I learned from her successes as well as her mistakes.

Book that influenced me the most: I have a favorite poem that continues to influence me, “The Dash” by Linda Ellis, which speaks about the dash that separates our date of birth from our date of death. The dash represents our lives and how we lived.

What I’m reading now: “Daily Self-Discipline: Everyday Habits and Exercises to Build Self-Discipline and Achieve Your Goals” by Martin Meadows.