The Art of Teamwork
TRENDS
Gail Radtke describes the process for qualifying as a therapy dog team and details some of the many values these canine and human volunteers contribute to their communities
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A Therapy Dog is a dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, people with learning difficulties, and in stressful situations, such as disaster areas - Wikipedia
n a previous article I wrote about how my dog, Lanie, became a St. John Ambulance (SJA) Therapy dog in British Columbia, Canada (The Miracle Mutt, BARKS from the Guild, October 2014, pp. 36-39). Lanie was a year old at the time and had a beautiful, friendly temperament. A friend suggested that we apply to the SJA program and I thought it would be the perfect outlet for her natural abilities. Although Lanie and I had already done a great deal of obedience training at that point, I wanted to make sure she was well-prepared for the SJA evaluation and, and, assuming were we successful, for our visits to senior facilities. I started introducing her to novel equipment items such as wheelchairs, assistance walkers and crutches to begin to desensitize her to them. To create a positive association I brought in a high-value food item that I knew she loved, cheese. The concept was: Lanie looks at the wheelchair, Lanie gets a piece of cheese. In this manner we were gradually able to get closer to each individual object. We slowly worked our way up to being right beside it and then touching it. The next step was for me to sit in the wheelchair and interact with Lanie and then move in the wheelchair Therapy dogs with her trotLanie and Tawny take ting alongside a break me without a care in the world (except for, “Where’s my cheese?”) This is the type of preparation I would recommend for anyone who wants to get their dog involved in therapy dog work. Exposure to crowds and being touched by unknown
Kaylee Chamberlain reads to Buttons as part of the PAWS reading program
people can be stressful for dogs but, if we pair the experience with something of high value to the dog, such as Lanie’s cheese, we can slowly desensitize them and teach them to remain calm in the most chaotic environments. Most therapy dog work is in senior facilities and hospitals. By re-creating elements of the physical environment dogs will experience during their visits prior to actually being in a facility, we can help them feel calmer and more confident about how to react during the new encounter. The SJA Therapy Dog program I am involved with has several branches throughout the province of British Columbia. Our specific location incorporates Abbotsford and Mission and currently there are 36 handler teams (consisting of the volunteer and their dog) in this area. In 2014, our branch area volunteered a total of 3,478.5 hours, and, in the entire province, therapy dog teams volunteered an impressive total of 34,121 hours throughout the year. The teams mainly visit retirement homes, hospitals and hospices. The Abbotsford/Mission branch also operates the PAWS reading program, which aims to improve the reading skills of children by having the child read to the dog. Our branch currently has the PAWS 4 Stories program in eight schools. Several times a year our volunteer teams also visit the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia during exam time. This enables students to take a break from the stress of exams and studying to spend time interacting with the therapy dogs and their handlers. The other unique program our teams are involved in is visiting the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women (ACCW) in Maple Ridge, British Columbia (see also The Miracle Mutt and Endless Possibilities, BARKS from the Guild, BARKS from the Guild/July 2015
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