Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca

Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca (http://www.pets.ca/forum/index.php)
-   General Forum for cats and dogs (http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2)
-   -   Any other therapy dogs in here? (http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=75110)

Soundy February 5th, 2011 10:34 AM

Any other therapy dogs in here?
 
St. John Ambulance had a booth set up at the Doggie Dash last fall (local fun-run event), so we signed up our three little monsters... they finished their certification in December and we've been visiting a seniors' home with them weekly ever since... needless to say, they're all quite the hit, and there's a regular group that gathers in the lounge after dinner every Tuesday waiting for us :)

If anyone's looking for a volunteer opportunity that doesn't take a lot of time and gives your dog something constructive to do (as Cesar would say, a working dog is a happy dog), I highly recommend looking into a therapy dog program, either through SJA or whatever other local outfit.

We get our official shirts and kerchiefs for the pups this weekend; I'll post some pics with everyone all decked out once we have them!

BTW, if you haven't seen it, the site has an article on the topic: [url]http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/therapy-dogs-canine-therapy/[/url]

AnneCS February 5th, 2011 12:47 PM

That's great! Congratulations! I would have loved to do something like that with my two, but alas, I think they're too high strung.

Soundy February 5th, 2011 01:02 PM

Try contacting your local SJA about orientation and evaluations... it's actually surprising how many dogs excel at this. The evaluations are actually only half about the dogs themselves (mainly to see how they deal with certain circumstances), and half about the handlers and how they work with the dogs. There were a couple at Dusty & Groucho's evaluation that I'd call "high strung" as well, but they handled all the situations presented quite well.

All it costs is a $20 signup fee, and a few hours of your time... plus, having something constructive to do may be what your guys need to mellow them out a bit! :) Worst case, you find out what areas of behavior you need to work on, and try again later. As they said in our classes, "nobody fails, but not everyone will pass today". As it was, only one dog didn't make it through, because he growled at the evaluator.

Melinda February 5th, 2011 01:06 PM

Brina isn't certified but she visits the nursing home where I volunteer at least once a month, and if I don't, then they ask for her, she's 6 yrs old (almost) and has been visiting them since she was 8 weeks , she enjoys it almost as much as they do.

Soundy February 5th, 2011 02:27 PM

Nice! Of course, volunteering there yourself gives you (and her) an in ;) We had to get criminal record checks done for SJA, and some of the sites want us to have our own vaccinations up to date too.


The local SJA coordinators take their dog into this same nursing home on Saturdays, have been for years... after our first visit, they said the next time they were in, everyone kept talking about the "three little dogs that came to visit" :)

Etown_Chick February 5th, 2011 02:38 PM

I've been talking with one of our dog park visitors who teaches autistic kids at the local jr high. Scruffy is fantastic with the autistic kids who visit the park with him...it's got me thinking.Just not sure how to go about doing it. Might also force me to do a bit more training on the "listen to mom and quit being an idiot" skills. He's too feisty to be a senior's dog, but there might be other things he can do.
THx for getting me thinking, Soundy

Soundy February 5th, 2011 02:52 PM

We actually first started getting the idea, too, at the dog park, when Dusty was just 5 months old and charming old folks already :D

[IMG]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/S4HQliywtqI/AAAAAAAAJQM/9cxmZBuGAAg/s512/IMG_7820.JPG[/IMG]

Love4himies February 5th, 2011 04:13 PM

And what a wee charmer he is :cloud9:

Soundy February 5th, 2011 08:34 PM

Picked up our OFFICIAL shirts (for us) and scarves (for the pups) today... I'll take a pic of them dressed up for work ASACP :)

Etown_Chick February 6th, 2011 08:40 PM

Soundy, what a little angel!

Soundy February 8th, 2011 11:51 PM

Finally got our official uniforms!

[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/TVIbtgI5EoI/AAAAAAAALfw/H-pDl6LV3QY/s512/IMG_6743.JPG[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/TVIbqNR_-8I/AAAAAAAALgE/z8jimMbVUnY/s640/IMG_6751.JPG[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/TVIbweo-BQI/AAAAAAAALgE/sniH2XreoZQ/s640/IMG_6766.JPG[/IMG]

Soundy March 9th, 2011 02:28 AM

So, we took some pictures tonight during our weekly visit... gonna get some prints done to take with us next week:

[IMG]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/TXcbLpuTTZI/AAAAAAAAL9Q/xwQ2_6hWlW8/s512/IMG_7864.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/TXcbOYztZ8I/AAAAAAAAL9U/lYzzLqxuy04/s512/IMG_7872.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/TXcbT7Vsw1I/AAAAAAAAL9c/joJfovPbj98/s512/IMG_7883.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_8W57ombPl6k/TXcb7Qo4NhI/AAAAAAAAL_M/1wChbk8efnY/s640/IMG_7941.jpg[/IMG]

reanne March 9th, 2011 01:48 PM

I have emailed our SJA a few times about volunteering and have never heard back. I used to work in a residential care facility and took Whistler in to volunteer MANY times. He LOVED it and I thought it was pretty amazing. The residents loved it of course too. It was incredible actually. One lady talked away to him, and we didn't even know she could talk before that. It's a very moving experience to share your animal with others! :)

Soundy March 9th, 2011 04:40 PM

Might need to just call them - volunteer organizations like this, I find, are sometimes not all that tech-savvy.

Our organizers here are good with their email, but they did note that the account name is case-sensitive... which seems odd to me, but it's possible, depending on the email server they're using.

reanne March 9th, 2011 09:16 PM

Thanks, I will just try calling them then! :)

Soundy May 2nd, 2011 09:31 PM

Wow, what a weekend... we signed up for this because of the booth John & Yvonne ran at the Doggie Dash last fall... so we figured it would be a good idea to help them represent at the Ridge Meadows Home show.

Well... a one-hour shift on Friday turned into two hours and we barely covered half the floor. Another two-hour shift on Sunday and we still didn't get by every booth. Just taking Groucho and Dusty around the floor, and we couldn't get three steps without someone else stopping us wanting to see the dogs and talk about their volunteer work. We handed out a least a dozen info brochures and business cards as well to other people who were interested in signing up their dogs.

Poor Dusty... after an hour at the park Sunday morning, an hour at obedience training, and then a couple hours at the Home Show, he was POOPED. Outside the building, we put his water dish down for him... he started drinking, then laid down and kept drinking... and I'm pretty sure he actually dozed off with his face in the bowl.

Soundy November 10th, 2011 03:20 PM

So, we're now also officially Code K-9 volunteers at Ridge Meadows Hospital! Did our orientation last weekend, took the dogs to get their pictures done today (for their ID badges)... Sunday we meet with the hospital's Code K-9 coordinator to get a walk-through!

[IMG]http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/248622_10150206391369285_332669629284_7291500_7863062_n.jpg[/IMG]

hazelrunpack November 10th, 2011 04:59 PM

Congratulations, Soundy!!! To you [I]and[/I] to the mini-mutts! :highfive: Well done, all of you! :D

growler~GateKeeper November 10th, 2011 11:57 PM

Congrats & cute pic of the mini mutts lineup :D

Soundy February 5th, 2012 09:50 PM

Set up a new Therapy Dogs page on Facebook: [url]http://www.facebook.com/groups/205186156247277/[/url]

Soundy November 5th, 2012 03:32 AM

Went to see Cesar tonight in Victoria (we wanted VIP tix, and they were sold out in Abbotsford). Managed to squeeze in a copy of our pic for any autograph at the end, woot!

[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4030692/Scans/scan0020-001.jpg[/IMG]

hazelrunpack November 5th, 2012 02:58 PM

Awesome!! How was the presentation?

Soundy November 5th, 2012 04:09 PM

Fantastic! Main show was close to 2.5 hours, with intermission... we had the VIP tix for the Q&A afterward, so it ran over three hours for us. He packed a lot of great stuff into it, brought in several local volunteers and their dogs to give some real-life examples of his... I hesitate to say "technique", because what he really espouses is more foundational than techniques; it's almost a philosophy.

The thing is, it works as well in real life as you see on the show. Granted, none of the dogs he brought on stage were the extreme cases they use for the show, but he uses the same principles and they work just as well: Person brings in "problem" dog, the "problem" is demonstrated with the dog's handler, Cesar points out where the person is sending the dog the wrong message through their body language and "energy", Cesar demonstrates with the dog behaving perfectly on the first go... then the dog's owner demonstrates with a far less "troublesome" dog. There's no training in between, nothing done to the dog... in every case, it's quite clear how it's the handler's state of mind that makes almost all the difference.

And yeah, they actually ran the South Park episode with him during the intermission. Always great to see when a celebrity knows how to NOT take himself too seriously :)

If you haven't seen it: [url]http://www.cesarsway.com/newsandevents/cesarsblog/Cesar-Millan-vs-Cartman[/url]

hazelrunpack November 5th, 2012 07:26 PM

:laughing: Funny clip!!

Glad you enjoyed the show! :highfive:

marko November 6th, 2012 09:42 AM

OMG that was Hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!

Soundy February 25th, 2013 03:18 AM

Recent article in the local paper, featuring Buttons and our SJA coordinators, John and Yvonne:

[url]http://www.mrtimes.com/Therapy+dogs+help+children+read/7963565/story.html[/url]

[IMG]http://www.mrtimes.com/7965774.bin[/IMG]

Soundy March 2nd, 2013 03:07 AM

For anyone in the Ridge Meadows area who's interested, there will be a Therapy Dogs orientation on the evening of March 19th at the SJA offices in Maple Ridge. PM me for details!


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:55 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.