Dogs consider option of therapy service

- WHAT: The local chapter of the Delta Society
- INFO: Contact Wendy Gibson at (540) 297-7217 or http://labyrinthlabs.wildblue.net,
or Marlene Truesdell at (540) 297-2031 or .

 

Looking for jobs in a tough market means expanding your horizons. That is why my foster dogs Baguette and Annie Bananie explored the possibility of being therapy dogs.

Locally, the national Delta Society of therapy dog handlers has a chapter with eight teams of people and dogs. The chapter’s Marlene Truesdell clarifies the difference between service and therapy dogs.

“Service animals help their owner to do tasks they cannot do for themselves. They have the right to go anywhere with their disabled owner. Therapy dogs do not have this authorization. They work with their handlers by their sides to assist patients, students, and clients to enhance their life by encouraging them in many ways,” she explains.

Therapy dog tasks include encouraging kids to read, visiting nursing homes and motivating people.

“Therapy dogs can make a huge difference in a person’s willingness to engage in therapy,” Truesdell says. “They can and do relax patients so that less pain medication has to be given. They lower blood pressure. They encourage patients to get up and move when depression sets in or discouragement keeps them from continuing with their therapy.”

The secret? “The animals are nonjudgmental and nonthreatening,” Truesdell notes.

Baguette and Annie Bananie visited Truesdell one morning for a quasi-job interview.

They had never met before, but Baguette sociably wagged her tail upon seeing Truesdell, and sat quietly while Truesdell did annoying things like look inside her ears, check her teeth and hug her.

When Annie joined the group, they encountered an unscheduled test. A 5-year-old girl, another stranger, stopped by. The girl’s hands fluttered about the dogs, and she danced and gave their tails a short tug. Both dogs calmly accepted the excitement.

Therapy dogs and their handlers have to be comfortable with people and have basic obedience training. The local Delta chapter offers an annual class on being a therapy dog handler. The handlers are responsible for training their dogs. If the person and dog pass an evaluation, they become registered Delta Pet Partners.

“It is important that each therapy dog be reliable, dependable, controllable, and suited to the task that you want him or her to do. The dogs must be more interested in people than other dogs. They must have complete confidence in their handlers so that they don’t have to worry about what is going on around them,” Truesdell says.

Perfection is not required. Truesdell says, “If a team has a particular problem, but is still safe, dependable and reliable, specific restrictions may be placed on the team.” Additionally, teams are rated as to whether they can operate in predictable circumstances only or in a more distracting environment.

Truesdell finds being part of a therapy dog team a great way to give back. “It’s like enjoying it with a friend. The dogs love it. They know they are doing something special. It’s so much more fun to volunteer with your pet,” she says.

More volunteers are needed for weekday and weekend visits; Truesdell’s group gets more requests for assistance than it can accommodate.

As for Baguette and Annie Bananie, they received high marks for people skills. But like many job candidates they need more training, in their case in obedience.

For now, they will continue to seek employment as wonderful companions. But if anyone is looking for a therapy dog in the making, I know where to find two good candidates.

-Sherbin volunteers with the Bedford Humane Society (http://www.bedfordhumanesociety.petfinder.com).