Brandy and Val

For over 20 years, I have been involved with a variety of tutor/mentoring programs, teaching English as a second language, promoting adult literacy and working with children in various capacities.  About a year ago, my husband and I wanted to do an activity that we could do together with Brandy and Val, so, after receiving their Canine Good Citizenship certificates, we started working in pet therapy programs.  Our participation to date includes ongoing school and library programs and one-time events such as a Dog Safety Workshop for elementary aged children and their mentors.

What is pet therapy or animal assisted therapy (AAT)?  It’s where animals and their handlers work with individuals to help them overcome specific physical, social or emotional obstacles or help them achieve certain goals that will ultimately improve their health and overall quality of life.  The theory behind a lot of it is that people will relate to animals in ways that they won’t or can’t with other humans.  They become uninhibited, will open up to the pets or even try new tasks since there is no fear of being judged or ridiculed by another adult or peer.  Interaction with pets has also shown to have positive health benefits on lowering blood pressure and stress!

We have worked in library reading programs–”Read to Rover” and “Paws to Read” are popular titles–where children will read to the dogs at 15 minute intervals and, during that time, the kids sit next to Brandy or Val and simply read a book at their own pace without adult intervention.  The children can stop and pet the dogs or they can just keep reading.  At the end of the 15 minutes, there is a little time for Q&A or giving treats.   Some children are excellent readers and just enjoy being around the dogs; others stumble or mumble at first and as the time or program goes on, their confidence seems to build and their reading and elocution improves.

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