Therapy Dogs outside the square

I tend to do the pet therapy with my dogs that *that* dog is suited for.  My first therapy dog was a pom/peke mix -- this was like 35+ years ago and I taught developmentally disabled children.  Prissy used to go to work with me and come out with the kids at nap time.  She also "helped" the occupational therapist and physical therapists a great deal. This was years before "pet therapy" became popular.  But I often felt Prissy "started" it -- she had a real sense of which child 'needed' her. 

But that's where I first found how incredibly much spastic little fingers can relax when petting warm fur.

Luna and Tink (and Foxy, Kee and Muffin in the past) all go to Give Kids the World -- it's a wish-granting organization -- and literally they just sit in a spot waiting for kids and their parents to pet them on their way to breakfast.

Billy goes to a home for developmentally disabled children and adults.  Billy also really enjoys nursing home work.

In the past, Muffin the Intrepid (who was deaf -- he'd had bi-lateral ear ablations) and LOVED to be with deaf children and people (because he knew about 90 signs) and he was also a cancer survivor, so he was self-appointed minister to any child whose had cancer. 

Foxy the MOstlie Sheltie and Muffin both went to Arnold Palmer Hospitals for Children and Shands Hospital in Gainesville (another cancer hospital)

But I'm also prone to doing "pet therapy" just with neighbors and anyone who needs a "visit">

 I've had several people tell me I should get Kirby into doing therapy since he is so polite and well behaved, but personally I would consider him a very poor candidate for being a therapy dog.  The fact is, he is lacking the most important drive and that is a innate love and desire to meet and interact with people.  At his core he is a aloof dog when it comes to strangers and not into getting scritches, being held, or cuddled by random people.  Now if they have food, he'll be their bff... or at least until the food runs out, but otherwise its not his thing.  I also wouldn't consider him stable/confident enough for a therapy dog.  Although I would never consider any dog boom proof, Kirby is a dog I know I have to watch closely with people to make sure he isn't placed in a situation where he feels cornered.

Sioux has been a therapy dog for eight years.  We visit nursing facilities, hospitals, senior centers, and adult day care centers that serve elders and disabled adults.  She has also visited isolated elders in their own homes on occasion.  One of the best things she has accomplished is visiting administrators and activities personnel to convince them of the benefits of regular therapy dog visits - paving the way for another regular team to get in to the facility!  She does that as part of her job as a program mascot at an elder care agency.

Maska is my "kid dog" - the bullet proof hound that doesn't mind the little ones pulling at his ears or tail, and who doesn't move if a toddler needs to use him for steadying. 

Our grads have various gigs with their dogs.  Two of my students are now involved in visiting pediatric psychiatric units, and a couple do a reading to rover program.  Most are working in nursing homes or hospital settings with various populations.  

If you have a large breed dog, consider veterans' hospitals.  Many of the men really like the large breeds, and they can easily pat them from wheel chairs or beds.

Also since this is sort of a miscellaneous (but wonderful idea) thread --

1.  Krissim Klaw is absolutely right -- it should NOT be about the owner's desire to "do something nice" whether the dog likes it or not.  I'm a firm believer that a dog can be trained to do just about anything **BUT** pet therapy should be about the ***DOG'S** connection with others.  not mine

As the owner/guardian/handler I'm there to make sure the dog isn't put into a bad no-win situation, doesn't get too tired, is adequately supervised, and that no "oops" happen.  But it's not ME who does the magic -- that's in the interaction between my **dog** and a human. 

2.  I think "outside the box" is a good term to apply here -- all my dogs are smaller dogs because of *my* physical restrictions... but sometimes a small dog just isn't "up" to the needs. 

So we've found a child's wagon to be an invaluable tool --

Both Muffin and Foxy used a prior wagon (it was a childs "Step 2" wagon and I made a "flat" bottom for that.)

the current "Adventurer 1" is a Radio Flyer -- it's a bit higher and really works well.  The Step 2 was nice because it had a door that opened so Muffin could step up into the wagon (after his cancer surgery he hated to jump and I wanted to minimize man-handling him). 

Even Tink is using the wagon already -- it gets the dog up "high" enough without jumping up (and potentially tearing skin on elderly or infirm folks/children).

Now Pollyanna (and I didn't even mention her) used the wagon for a different purpose.  Pollyanna didn't walk. 

Now people often gush that they think every handicapped pet would make a ***wonderful*** therapy dog and that is just NOT true.  Often handicapped pets are self-protective because they feel vulnerable -- and we've experienced this.  Polly only lived three months -- her injuries were very severe and there was a lingering blood clot that was undetected.  she died of a stroke when she was only 7 1/2 months old. 

Our intention was to train Polly as a therapy dog -- but it wouldn't have been easy simply because she was fragile and vulnerable and **she knew it**.

Our absolute best experience with pet therapy is often to simply match the dog to the venue -- what does THIS dog excel at?  If it's a guy's dog thru and thru -- yeah, that's the dog I'd take to veteran's venues. 

Kee Shu's highest and best was ... believe *this* or not -- BABIES!!!  She **loves** tiny children.  It still boggles my mind that my most "bomb proof" therapy dog ever with TINY children has been a **PEKE**.  (not a breed evah known for its patience with children).

Billy was abused as a young dog in foster care.  he does **NOT** do well in crowded rowdy situations where there are lots of screaming, active, pushy kids.  After 5 years of really intense de-sensitizing, he is pretty darned good at this point one on one with kids BUT never in a million years would I put him in a pet therapy situation like that.

**HOWEVER** he absolutely rocks with the developmentally disabled children.  He has extreme patience with grabbing fingers ... as long as someone isn't rushing his face.  The DD kids scream, they often "smell funny", they moan .... but they don't rush him, and he's fine with that.

My point is -- we've learned to keep our eyes on the dog -- to find out what that dog truly is interested in.  What makes **this** dog come alive. 

I can already see the pug is gonna be exceptional -- she was so very very sick, sore, infected and it was a year of a lot of vet visits, a TON of baths, and medicines her first year.  And she's already developing a real sense of compassion.  I've seen her twice now (in very few therapy experiences so far) go from boundless energy to "limp" when she perceived a child was scared of her.  Rather than trying harder to get TO the child she simply stops and lets the child approach on their own comfort level. 

I'm jumping all around it here but that's part of what I'm talking about.  Getting to know your own dog **well enough** to sense their own sense of "Ohh, this person needs me to do THIS".  You gotta watch so carefully for it and reinforce it ... That sense where the dog **chooses** to minister to the person.  The dog drawn to "help". 

yes -- I truly think that can be taught to a degree -- certainly it can be fostered.  But ... being flexible enough as an owner to match the dog TO the therapy.  It's a big huge deal.

I have a good friend who has her doctorate in social work -- and she does a TON of pet therapy.  She has a springer spaniel who is deaf AND blind (from birth).  Brownie was rescued from someone's backyard/shed (nope -- no effort to close the socialization window there!)

But Brownie has turned out to be the BEST dog to work with adults with emotional handicaps/mentally challenged individuals.  Because this dog completely "senses" and smells all its input - he is somehow incredibly adaptive to those people who deeply need him the most.  It's been one of those marvelous situations where Brownie can sit down with an adult and within 10 minutes that adult is pouring out their heart to him and gaining incredible release.  And Brownie just soaks it up. 

Unfortunately I have been turned off of Therapy work because the only therapy dog program and organization here insists on annual vaccines and the records to show they've been done each year. I refuse to put therapy work before my own dogs' health so it never panned out. Shame, because Zipper has always been an ultimate candidate for several kinds of therapy work, and I really would have loved to do it.

My hound probably wouldn't make a great therapy dog. She'd tick all the boxes in terms of training, being around loud noises, being pat by lots of different people but she's just not that interested in people when we're out and about - at home she'd be all over people like a rash but take her out and she's far too interested in what else is going on to be interested in paying much attention to people.

A good friend of mine was so shocked when she came over to my house and Daisy was begging for cuddles, because she'd only seen her out of the home where she's go go go. Even when I have her sitting in a stay she's all eyes on me and doesn't pay much attention to anyone else who comes up for a pat.

Kim_MacMillan

Unfortunately I have been turned off of Therapy work because the only therapy dog program and organization here insists on annual vaccines and the records to show they've been done each year. I refuse to put therapy work before my own dogs' health so it never panned out. Shame, because Zipper has always been an ultimate candidate for several kinds of therapy work, and I really would have loved to do it.

There are TONS of qualifying agencies and some of them will do long distance qualifications (they require some pretty serious recommendations usually).

I've always gone thru Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. out of NYC -- and if you email June she might be able to recommend a good agency in Canada. 

I've always had to provide health updates, but they've always accepted titers with NO question at all.

There are some therapy dog agencies that **could** really turn you off.  I got majorly ticked off at Delta years ago because they wouldn't consider Muffin the Intrepid because he was deaf and I had to give him touch signals if I was *behind* him.  And they had a major problem working with *me* because of my own disabilities (I couldn't 'stand' for their test -- I have to sit down to train.)

Also -- there are a lot of places that don't require 'certification' (all certification does really is make you qualify for insurance in case an 'incident' happens) - at least here.  Nursing homes/alzheimer homes, and many facilities for developmentally disabled folks usually don't require certification.  And most ANY certification program is going to require that your dog already be *working* somewhere.  i.e., you gotta get experience somewhere.

 I think that Ena Bean, with another 6 months of maturity, will make a nice therapy dog, if I can find an appropriate group. She does NOT like groups of people trying to mug her at once, that's overwhelming, and she isn't that kind of dog, but she LOVES children. She is very, very gentle, and well behaved. I think she would like to do a reading program, or something similar. I have used her for "Safety Around Dogs" and she liked that ok, as long as the group didn't start to get too rambunctious. The more confident she gets, the better it'll be. We're getting there, with confidence. She's bigger, and better, and more mature, every day!

To clarify for everyone - **Delta** has no restrictions on what kind of signals you give your animal partner, whether an animal or handler has disabilities, etc.  The only animal disability they restrict is anything requiring an animal to wear a diaper because that's not sanitary in a facility.  I should know - I'm an evaluator for the organization and have been through extensive training on evaluation procedures and requirements for animals and their handlers.  Callie's unfortunate experience does not represent the Delta Society organization in any way.

Delta is one of the only organizations that allows animals other than dogs, they hold their teams to a high standard of professionalism, and their evaluation is one of the toughest imo.

I have 2 Delta Society Pet Partners.  Maggie has been at this for over 6 years and really excels with special ed classes - we're in the process of setting something up with a local school as we speak.  She can do nursing homes but it's not the best fit for either her or me.  Ziva is a kid dog through and through, so up to now she's just done humane education and bite prevention programming.  Since acheiving her Pet Partners registration this spring, I may look into trying her out in a variety of settings to see which she does best in.  I'm trying to figure out how to get her to OR to visit my granddad and his assisted living facility, too, lol.

Both Bevo & Shooter are therapy dogs.  They are polar opposites, & it shows in what type of work that they excell in.

Shooter thrives with older people.  He is perfectly content to go into a nursing home, & visit with the residents.  He's sweet, snuggly, & he's perfectly content to sit in a lap for as however long that person wants to hold him.  He doesn't like lots of people crowding him & trying to pet him all at once, so he does very well in a relaxed setting such as a nursing home.

Bevo, otoh, loves chaos in general.  He adores kids, & in his opinion, the more hands coming at him at once, the merrier.  He works in a variety of places.  He is a regular Ruff Readers dog.  He loves his weekly trip to the library to be read to by kids.  He acted as Santa's reindeer, at a local women's shelter last year.  He charms kids at our children's hospital, & recently, he proved that he is a great dog for teaching kids dog safety.  He also did some work at a local funeral home as a grief therapy dog.  Although he is generally aloof with adults, he was very good in this setting.  He was very good at putting people at ease with his "sweet ears" (airplane ears) and his shy, sweet demeanor.  (He is not shy, & he rarely carries his ears in any position other than erect.)  He did a great job of connecting with grieving family members, & he seemed to enjoy doing this as well.  Unfortunately, it was quite stressful for me, & I eventually decided that I could not handle it.

I do have one other dog who, I believe, would make a great therapy dog.  I don't have the time to take three dogs out for weekly therapy visits, & I refuse to be one of those people who gets their dog certified & then doesn't let them work.  We have members of our group who have tested their dogs for the sole reason of "adding another title to the end of their name."  I have zero respect for people like that, & I refuse to be one of those people.  Until, I can find a way to squeeze in another weekly visit, or until I have to retire Bev or Shoe, she will just have to wait in the wings.

 What about a therapy rabbit? I have this rabbit who is incredibly placid. I call her a lap bunny. She will sit on your lap for hours and barely move. She also has the softest, most plush fur and silkiest ears in the known universe. I've often thought how good she'd be at therapy. You can lose yourself stroking those ears, and she's not the adventurous type. She's happy to just warm your lap and demand your full attention. I find her very soothing! At least until she stamps on me for watching television instead of giving her my full and undivided attention. She's also quite big at 3kg.

I think that Kivi would be a good therapy dog. He doesn't care who is patting him, he will love on them gently and unobtrusively and he'll bring them presents in his mouth and lean on people and nuzzle their ears. He is an angel around my 92 year old grandmother, and tends to react to children by sitting or standing next to them and just kind of not paying them much attention until they have given him a few cuddles. I was watching him in amazement at this picnic recently. He's a big Lapphund, and this little boy was telling him to sit and then putting an arm around his shoulders and chatting away to me and Kivi just had soft eyes and was barely looking at him, but doing everything the boy asked and after a while he was giving this kid the most tender, gentle little nuzzles. No licking, just sniffing under his ear. When I met Kivi's grandfather, he was the same with me. Encouraging me to stroke his head and bury my fingers in his fur. I was impressed how careful he was to make no sudden moves and very gently just sniff in the direction of my face without actually making contact. Those Lapphunds are real naturals at making friends.  

Therapy bunnies are totally a possibility with Delta at least!  I've evaluated a guinea pig (who needed a bit more training, but will be an awesome Pet Partner eventually), and will be evaluating a goat (if they can get him housetrained as needed).  There are some tweaks to the eval, but they are still put through most of the same eval sections as a dog or cat.

corvus

What about a therapy rabbit? I have this rabbit who is incredibly placid. I call her a lap bunny.

It was a therapy rabbit that got ME started.  Many years ago when my grandmother was in a nursing home, they sent me a picture of Gram holding this bunny.

When Gram had her stroke - the woman who had been my mentor for so many years virtually disappeared.  Her personality changed -- and it was like you couldn't even "see" Gram in her eyes. 

But in that picture with her holding that rabbit -- THAT was **MY** Grandma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  She'd always loved animals -- and holding that bunny just plain brought "her" personality forth. 

It was that picture that made me want to do pet therapy. 

There is honestly something about the sense of "touch" -- fingers (whether old, young, gnarled, sick, or spastic) will relax into warm, soft coats.  No matter the species.