I'm so excited!!! We both had to put in a lot of time and hard work but it finally paid off. The mailman dropped off a long awaited for package today! Our certificate, ID Badges and such arrived.
We can now visit on our own. I'm very excited about this. I'm hoping there might be a way for us to help out at the Safe House. I really want to work with kids coming out of bad situations. Give them a little time with an adorable dog to help them relax, and smile! Wish us luck

Here's a picture of him in his new therapy pet vest.
Click to view attachment

Well Done, DONE...



I have seen first hand on multiple occasions the wonderful effect of Therapy Dogs in Hospitals.
Children's faces light up like Santa Claus walked in the room.

Bless you for doing something so special.

Way to go Lena, you're always such an inspiration.. I know you two will be there to help many kids

A friend in High School did her Science report on how a person's blood pressure changes when they are near a dog and petting the dog. Which then prompted me to write a research report in college on the effects of therapy pets. Believe me they make a difference, as long as the person isn't afraid of a dog. And they are wonderful for helping people overcome that fear.
I trained Scrappy for almost 2 years before we even started with our tests, and supervised visits. I had to train him that no matter what, he could never nip, mouth, etc someone. I've seen his ears get yanked and even bopped upside the head. I think he knows the people don't usually mean to. They just don't have awesome motor skills all the time be it an older person that is shaky or younger child that over does it. Depending on how much they have the potential to hurt him, I may allow for petting. If it's too rough, we do tricks and sometimes I have him lie down beside the person.
I am soooooo freakin excited. His first test was last June so we've been working on this for awhile now.

He doesn't know how to walk with his vest on though At first he refused to move. Now he's improved to an akward sideways crab walk. I guess I never really put clothes on him except for his usual bandana. Lots of treats and just putting in some time with it on and I'm sure he'll start to look a little more comfortable.

Great Job!

Girl that is so AWESOME!!! I'm proud of you and Scrappy!!

I just noticed this. On all his paperwork I listed his breed as Mutt. He could be a lot of things, but pure-breed is not one of them. On his ID badge his breed is listed as "All American" I guess that's the pc way to say "mutt"

thats very RAD, making peeeps happy is awesome

Good stuff!! Congrats!

Anybody that doesn't believe in this stuff, needs to watch a patient monitor when a dog lays next to a "comatose" patient, and their hand is placed on the dog.

This is very cool!

Congratulations!!! hey what type of beer does Scrappy like?

Scrappy works for food, he's not so found of anything bubbly. He'd probably 'punch' it with his nose

well i guess we just need to keep that fighting dog away from cuda

More for Scrappy's sake than Cuda's

Went and did my Hospice orientation yesterday. I have to wait till my background check comes back, and I had to be tested for TB. Ouch, I don't like shots

I'm going to put some stuff together to approach the local Safe House, and Amberly's Place. I want to appear as professional as possible, so I'm thinking of dressing up nice and having some pictures of Scrappy & I taken at the park. Then do my best to put together some type of brochure or one page of info regarding the both of us and pet therapy including facts about the medical benefits such as lower blood pressure and stress levels experienced after a visit. I really want to work with the kids and also women. But my heart is with the little ones. Anyways hoping the professional look I'm trying to give us will better our chances of being allowed to visit.

Very nice.

Did you train this group? They kinda look like some of the GDer's, with summer around the corner.

Steve, Dave, TNT, Hogduner?

Headed out to G today.


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=pkPNa4DBFHI

That was really a cute video! They even picked up their trash

I noticed that. They picked up their beer cans, off to G. H

congrats to you and your doggie Lena

That's awesome Lena. When my son was in the hospital recovering from his wreck, there was a little wiener dog named coco that visited him on a regular basis, it was really amazing the affect it had on his recovery. His eyes would light up and he would smile the whole time. It really helped. congrats.

Please excuse this proud 'fur' parent moment....

SCRAPPY is in the local newspaper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's 3 photos on the online version, not sure about the paper one just yet. We are pic #3. Thats scrappy doing the resident's favorite trick. I have a dowel I hold out, and he pops over it.

http://www.yumasun.com/articles/group-61106-work-yuma.html

so awesome...congrats to both of you!!!

Good job!!

Congrats hun!!!

Great job. Most of the Trauma Centers also have K-9 Therapy teams. I've been visited a time or two.
If you haven't already I'd suggest getting your Hep A and B series vaccine since you'll work in medical facilities. People don't know how easily its transmitted.

As far as his new clothes. Make sure your not velcro-ing down his equipment.

We are ditching the vest, I'm sick of it. He always trys to itch under it and it covers WAY too much of him. It covers his whole back which is where most people pet him after they give him a pat on the head. Most groups use bandanna's, which makes WAY more sense. Officially I only need his badge to be visible, I wear it on my lanyard next to mine. But they strongly suggest you have something on the dog to identify him as a trained therapy animal. Which is understandable.

I received the latest newsletter from the group this morning and they are redesigning the vests to cover less of the dogs body AND coming out with official bandana's that can be worn instead of the vest In the meantime, I might make a bandana @ home for him to wear during visits.

Picked up the paper version of the newspaper, and what do you know, they included the pic of him 'levitating' in the story I love that picture. I need to contact the photographer because I want to have a copy for myself.