How to Prepare a dog for Therapy Dog Training

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4LU71xtSB0&feature=related

As I said in my previous post, I would really like to get my dog certified as a therapy dog.  I found this very informative video on how to prepare your dog to be a therapy dog.  After seeing the video, there are a few things I would need to work on to help with training her to be a threapy dog. 

Alot of training goes into having a therapy dog, but the rewards of having one would be never ending because they can help so many people along the way!

Personal Reaction

After researching all about animal assisted therapy, this is a career I would love to do also, along with teaching.  I have always loved animals as I have rescued a golden retriever/lab mix of my own,  as well as having another rescued boglen terrier at my house and would really like to be involved in animal assisted therapy.  I think animals can make a remarkable difference in a person's life and benefit them in many ways.  If I would have the time, I would love to get my boglen terrier into being certified, as she would be the prime candidate to being a service dog. I feel this type of career would be really rewarding as you are getting to work with children and making a difference in their life, as well as working with animals.

The Prison Pet Partnership Program

Mission Statement:   Prison Pet Partnership enriches the lives of inmates, homeless animals and the community through the human-animal bond!

The Priston Pet Partnership Program was founded in 1981 to establish a partnership between inmates and animals.  This program has inmates, train, board, and groom dogs within the prison they are located.  This particular program which is out of Washington State,  has placed 700 dogs within all different areas such as service or therapy dogs.  This is a way for inmates to provide a contribution to their community for the better.  Programs such as this are praticed across the country and help train many dogs into helping other people in need.

Core Values of the Program

• We value compassion and respect for people and animals.
• We value commitment to service.
• We value education and growth.
• We value building partnerships in a community.

History of Animal Assisted T

History of Animal-Assisted Therapy:

Animal asssisted therapy has been taken place over the course of many years.  Not unitl recently, has it become a more well known profession to get a degree in.  It was not until the 20th century that  animals were considered or recognized to have the ability to preform therapy.  In 1997, Therapy Dog International was founded by Elaine Smith, which was the first organization to have the first register therapy dogs in the United States.   A year after,  The Delta Society started research on how animals of all sorts can impact and affect a person's life.  Now today, there are many organizations which promote animal assisted therapy and provide animals to help people with all different needs.

PTSD

There has been many benefits that  animals have had on people suffering from PTSD.  The benefits include, lower blood pressure, reduced anxiety and stress, higher immune system, and reduce symptoms.  Many animals can be used to help people suffering from PTSD, which include, horses, cats, birds, dolphins, and the most used, dogs.  An amimal can help with thriving for attention.  Animals need attention and care, as this can be a way to focus a person into a different direction, instead of  having reoccuring traumatic thoughts. Animals are creatures who can give comfort to someone without judgement as having a dog or cat around in the house can be very beneficial.  Another benefit of animals, speciffically horses, is that horses can reflect the moods of the riders. This is beneficial as it can help a person see their own mood and  how it may affect others.  Animal assisted therapy is just one way to help a person suffering from PTSD, and can have many benefits come about.

Organizations!

There are many different organizations in Ohio that provide animal assisted therapy which includes:

Therapy Pets of Greater Cincinnati

Paws for Comfort

Partners with Paws

Love on a leash

Dog owner Connection- Pet Therapy

Central Ohio Good Shepherds

Angel Paws

These are just a few, but there are many right here in Cincinnati!

Study on Animal Assisted Therapy

Animal-Assisted Therapy for Children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder

1.      College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University

     This study is the effects that dogs have on children with disorders which deals with lack of social communication and abilities.  In this study, the children were put into three different conditions.
1.       A nonsocial (toy)
2.      Stuffed dog
3.       A therapy dog
 
     The results of this study showed that the interaction with a therapy dog had many effects. The children were:
 1.       More focused
2.       More playful
3.       More aware of social environment
 With these benefits, shows that animal assisted therapy is a potential beneficial therapy for children  with disabiites.

Alpacas (Different Animal used in AAT)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eHnOG98P5w


This link is to a video of animal assisted therapy with alpacas.  This animal is used to interact with autistic children.  I found this short video to be very interesting as I have never heard of this type of animal being used in animal assisted therapy.  This just shows how many different types of animals can be used in animal assisted therapy and benefit the children.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4Kt-oBKO8


This is another link to a video with alpacas and senior citizen interaction.  This video really shows how these animals are so gentle when  interacting  with humans.  Just from simply being at the senior citizen home, brought much joy to the residents there.

Therapy Pets of Greater Cincinnati

After taking some time researching animal assisted therapy, I wanted to see some local organizations that are located in Cincinnati.  Therapy pets of Greater Cincinnati are a non profit organization which serves clients in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.   Through animal-human bond, this organization promotes the important role that animals can have in a person’s life.  The pets in this organization visit many different places including schools, rehabilitation centers, healthcare facilities, and homes.  This organization provides three different services which include Animal Assisted Activities, Animal Assisted Therapy, and Pages’N Paws.  Pages’N Paws is having a child build their literacy skills through reading to a dog.  This provides the children to have a fun reading setting as well as it has been proven to be very effective in progression of reading.

Dolphins Influence on Autistic Children

I was watching a video on youtube about austic children interacting with dolphins, and the effects this had on child.  The program takes place in Florida and offers ten sessions for a child to interact with a dolphin.  The particular child they focused in on had made a lot of progress during the two weeks according to his parents.  He was able to connect and interact with the dolphin, which led him to be more vocal then he has been in the past. As the video goes on, the concern for this type of therapy was brought up, as some people think that this type of therapy should not be considered therapy, as it may not have lasting effects.  I know there are many people who may not think highly of animal assisted therapy, but I am completely opposite.  I think animals have so much to offer, as children can interact to them very easily and connect.  I personally have seen how dogs can have a true impact on a child with a disability and I think many types of animal assisted therapy is very beneficial.

Here's the link to the Video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir05FOFkeXk

Qualifications to become an assisted dog!

For a dog to be certified in to be used in animal assisted therapy, hours of training and observation are required.  Any breed of any size can qualify to be an assisted dog, but not all dogs qualify based on their traits.  The most important quality of a dog is their temperament to qualify to be a dog assistant.  This should naturally take place before training, as the dog should be non-aggressive.

 They should also be able to get along with everyone such as:

Elders

Children

Females

Males

Other Animals

Other qualities they should have included:

Patience

Friendly

Confident

Gentle

Socialization

Different types of Animals!

Different animals are used for animal assisted therapy.  These animals are used to assist children who have disabilities, have been abused, or have an illness.  The animals are used to provide physical and emotional benefits for the children. The main three animals used in animal assisted therapy is, horses, dolphins, and dogs.

Horses:  Horses have helped children with a wide range of disabilities.  The benefits of riding are posture, balance, motor development, as well as emotionally. Different types of horses are used for many different purposes.

 Dolphins:  Dolphins are used as motivators for children who are working on a variety of skills.  Through having this experience with the dolphins, many benefits for children with disabilities have been seen. It has been noted, through this type of therapy, a child’s attention span has been increased to help with further progression.

Dogs: Dogs can be used for multiple purposes. The dogs can be used to perform different tasks to help with assistance as well as support and motivation to overcome obstacles.   The dogs help with increasing activity which can help with progressing the children’s abilities.

Career Choice (AAT)

http://www.animaledu.com/Careers/AnimalAssistedTherapyCareers.aspx

After seeing different videos on animal assisted therapy, I was really curious on how someone would become an animal assisted therapist.  I was looking online, and this particular school called Animal Behavior Institute, was one that came up.  Through this school, there are many different options on career choices with working with animals.  The website expresses how animal assisted therapy is a new field and is predicted to be a rapidly growing career. Many AAT (Animal Assisted Therapists) work closely with psychologists, counselors, and occupational therapists.  I would love to have the opportunity to sit in on a therapy session, and observe the interactions between the children and the animals.

Video on Animal Assisted Therapy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbBguMj7bEg

The link I have posted is a video which shows animal assisted therapy taking place.  The video shares the benefits seen with assistance from these animals and how much they have truly impacted the lives of many children with disabilities.  I find it so amazing, how through these animals, children have overcome so many obstacles they have been faced with.  To see the extensive training and observation that takes place to train a dog for animal assisted therapy, shows how dedicated these different organizations are to impact the lives of children.  The video not only shares dogs, but cats, hamsters, and dolphins as well for assisting the children.  To see the joy on each of the child’s faces, really show how much these animals are benefiting them as well as making an extraordinary impact on their lives.

Animal Assisted Therapy

Pawws to heal is an organization which supports and helps children who have been abused and have physical disabilities.  Pawws to heal is an interactive animal therapy organization which provides therapists, with the assistance of animals, to help and improve the lives of children.   The goal is to use animals to help achieve positive goals for each child whose coping with a form of abuse or a physical disability.  This organization is currently an outreach program located in Wisconsin, but has a vision of having an on-site facility which would have therapist and many different animals for children to interact with during therapy.  

The organization has five animals which are used in animal assisted therapy.  Two dogs which are named Winnie and Jillian are used in therapy, as well as Pheonix the parrot.  Two cats named Ziggie and Marley are also used as assistance to the therapists. The founder of this animal assisted therapy was Roxy, a dog whose battle with cancer ended in 2011. Having these animals present during the therapy sessions with the children has shown to lower anxiety levels.

The videos located on the website, shows the great results and benefits children have had through the use of animal assisted therapy.  The videos are definitely worth a look!! 

http://www.pawwstoheal.org/

Introduction to Research Topic!

        After debating on many different topics to research for the quarter, I have decided to focus on service dogs and animal assisted therapy for children with disabilities.  Animals are and have always been a big part of my life.  This topic came to me this past week as I was watching my boyfriend’s four year old brother who has Down syndrome.  As he was playing with the dogs at my house, he had the biggest smile on his face as he was laughing and chasing them all around.  This really made me start to think, what are the benefits of having a trained dog for assistance for a child with a disability as well as any animal?  After going online, I found many different places and organizations that train dogs for assistance for a child with a disability.  What are the benefits of having a service dog or a child in animal assisted therapy?    I wonder, what would a parent’s perspective be of animal assisted therapy for their child with a disability? Where would a parent get the appropriate information on animal assisted therapy and the benefits?  How much of an impact can these dogs have on a family who has a child with a disability? This topic is one I am really looking forward to take the time and research.  Animals are a passion of mine, along with children,  so this will be the perfect topic to investigate to learn more about!