LIFE MATTERS MEDIA STAFF

A pint-sized pup is on the journey of a lifetime to help spread awareness about hospice care.

Hachi, a California chihuahua, is walking 375 miles on rugged terrain on the American Discovery Trail.

“Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that there’s been a lot of misconceptions about the purpose of hospice and that a lot of people come way too late to get the benefits of hospice care,” Jeff Douglas, a chaplin with Advanced Home Health and Hospice in Sacramento, told ABC News.

“So, I thought, why don’t we leverage Hachi’s charm and personality and do a great feat that will be big enough to get more people to listen to our message?”

Douglas, 63, and Hachi, 5, are walking together. They are on Day 16.

Douglas said he hopes he and his therapy dog can “start important conversations about end of life planning” with people they meet while on their journey from the California-Nevada border to the Pacific Ocean. Although small, Hachi can walk more than 20 miles a day.

They are promoting hospice care on their Facebook page, can be traced via GPS or tweeted with #HachisHikeForHospice.

Hospice care aims to provide comfort care and pain management rather than aggressive treatments – usually for terminally ill patients with six months or less to live. Hospice is most often used when curative treatments are no longer effective.

