Pet Pals For People
This site is for those who seek information about therapy dogs and pets for those in need.
Therapy Dogs Defined
A therapy dog is a dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, mental institutions, schools, and stressful situations such as disaster areas.
The concept of a therapy dog is often attributed to Elaine Smith, an American who worked as a registered nurse for a time in England. Smith noticed how well patients responded to visits by a certain chaplain and his canine companion, a Golden Retriever. Upon returning to the United States in 1976, Smith started a program for training dogs to visit institutions. Over the years other health care professionals have noticed the therapeutic effect of animal companionship, such as relieving stress, lowering blood pressure, and raising spirits, and the demand for therapy dogs continues to grow. In recent years, therapy dogs have been enlisted to help children overcome speech and emotional disorders. The concept has widened to include other species, such as therapy cats, therapy rabbits, therapy birds and so on.
Therapy dogs come in all sizes and breeds. The most important aspect of a therapy dog is temperament. A good therapy dog must be friendly, patient, confident, at ease in all situations, and gentle. Therapy dogs must enjoy human contact and be content to be petted and handled, sometimes clumsily.
A therapy dog's primary job is to allow unfamiliar people to make physical contact with him and to enjoy that contact. Children in particular enjoy hugging animals; adults usually enjoy simply petting the dog. The dog might need to be lifted onto, or climb onto, an invalid's lap or bed and sit or lie comfortably there. Many dogs add to the visiting experience by performing small tricks for their audiences or by playing carefully structured games.
Therapy dogs are not service or assistance dogs. Service dogs directly assist humans, and have a legal right to accompany their owners in most areas. In the United States, service dogs are legally protected at the federal level by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Therapy dogs do not provide direct assistance and are not mentioned in the Americans with Disabilities Act.Information Resource on Assistance Animals for the Disabled Institutions may invite, limit, or prohibit access by therapy dogs. If allowed, many institutions have rigorous requirements for therapy dogs.
Many organizations provide testing and accreditation for therapy dogs. Most require that a dog pass the equivalent of the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen test, and then add further requirements specific to the environments in which the dogs will be working. Typical tests might ensure that a dog can handle sudden loud or strange noises, can walk on assorted unfamiliar surfaces comfortably, are not frightened by people with canes, wheelchairs, or unusual styles of walking or moving, get along well with children and with the elderly, and so on.
Pet Therapy is a more inclusive terminology regarding the benefits from having a "therapy dog", or other "therapy animals" such as cats and rabbits.
Teaching Your Pet To Help Others . . .
Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 07/25/2008)
List Price: $19.95
Used Price: $12.61
If you are interested in what it takes to be a therapy dog, this book may provide you with additional information.
Release Date: 12/31/1969
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Therapy Dogs In The News
- Big Dog Therapy at York Correctional: Waterford resident offers ...
- A year later Margaret took Porter to classes to become a therapy dog for convalescent homes. While Porter made his weekly visits to cheer up the confined ...
- Volunteer helps dogs become readers' best friends
- We had heard of reading programs pairing children with therapy dogs used elsewhere around the country, so we approached the WRL (Williamsburg Regional ...
- Library news
- Children recently met and learned about therapy dogs, Dixie and Lucy, at Main Street Library. The Therapy Dogs program was one of many events that make up ...
- Therapy dogs helping wounded soldiers in Iraq
- The two Labradors are Army therapy dogs assigned to medical facilities in Tikrit and Mosul. They're assigned to boost the morale of wounded and injured ...
Pet Pal Videos
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- MATCH-UP Services: PetPals
- MATCH-UP volunteers provide companionship for elderly and disabled adults, assist with short-term or one-time tasks, escort people to medical appointments, visit nursing homes with their pets, and help seniors with an in home exercise program.
- PetPals of Texas
- Pet Pals of Texas is a volunteer-based, nonprofit organization
whose mission is to help improve the quality of life for people
with disabilities, the elderly, and terminally ill, by providing the
pets they love with support services that will allow them to
stay together in a loving, healthy home - Dogs > Dogs Helping People > Therapy Dogs
- The Web site for the Dogs: Wolf, Myth, Hero, Friend exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. This page examines how dogs assist in the physical, emotional, and social therapy of humans.
- SERVICE DOG TASKS FOR PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES BY JOAN FROLING
- This is an informative list of tasks provided by therapy dogs for the mentally and emotionally challenged.
- Inmates give rescued dogs special care Rootstown group places animals for training at - Dog Forum, Dog Pictures and Dog Information
- Inmates give rescued dogs special care Rootstown group places animals for training at Trumbull prison By Mike Sever Record-Courier staff writer In the
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This site proudly supports the ASPCA.
Pet Pals For Therapy
If you loved Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others, you might also enjoy:
The Canine Good Citizen: Every Dog Can Be One, Second Edition by Jack Volhard, Wendy Volhard
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Therapy Dogs Today: Their Gifts, Our Obligation by Kris Butler
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Pet Pal Blogs
- Big Dog Therapy at York Correctional: Waterford resident offers ...
- When Margaret Ormond, assistant principal at Norwich Technical High School, adopted an English mastiff named Porter four years ago, she became inspired by a friend who owned a therapy dog she would take into the Janet S. ...
- ‘Dog at Work’: The Mystic & Noank Library Begins Dog Reading Program
- ?When asked to read to a dog, for example, they often forget their limitations and are very motivated to read as the dogs sit quietly and listen,? she said in a recent press release. ?Using therapy dogs has been proven to motivate ...
- Frankie's First Therapy Dog Training Session
- Frankie and I had our first Therapy Dog Training session last Friday afternoon. Julie and her dog, Preston, a king charles cavilier spaniel, showed us the ropes at Beech Nursing Home. We are going through www.therapydogs.comto become a ...
- My Ellie, My Hero
- Ellie was certified in May through Therapy Dogs Inc. of Cheyenne, Wyo., Katie said. The organization provides registration, support and liability insurance for people who volunteer to share their special pets to bring happiness and ...
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The Perfect Pet For Therapy
Tammy Bears
Security blankets, teddy bears, kitty cats, and puppy dogs are also pet pals. Often plush pet pals are a source of comfort for the child or child at heart.
Thanks to talented artist Tammy Hendricks, you can own a perfect pedigreed pet without the fuss of maintenance. Tammy Bears dogs are incredibly life-like, life-size, and a lovable source of hand-made pet pal.
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