[MeadowCat]

Hey all of you with working therapy dogs!

I thought it might be nice to have a thread of our own, as kind of a support group and place to share ideas. Are any of you interested? If not, that's totally cool Shanoa is doing her very first official Delta visits today, so I'm excited! We had a nice three mile hike this morning with both dogs, and then I took her about a mile on the bike just now before we leave to visit. Hopefully all goes well!

 

[bean]

I'm in!

I'll be excited to hear about her visit. Where is it? The exercise before visiting is really helpful. Have fun!

We're going to be at "Wordstock" on Sunday for an hour, we'll have little kids read to him. It's a huge book/literary festival. wordstock our mission

Should be fun! Not sure if I can take photos or not - we shall see.

 

[Sinister]

Good luck! I wish I could be in the group. Juno should be on her way soumetime

 

[Jenny]

V takes his TDI test monday. . . Hopefully I can join then

 

[shakermach]

Our boy Ruger is a TDI dog and we visit a local hospital here where I work. The patients and staff love to see him coming!!! He enjoys it alot too, he just loves to be loved on!!!

 

[MeganUK]

Josie and I are in! We've only been doing the reading program lately...I've been so busy I haven't had time to do many visits. We also visit a children's home with 6-12 year old boys...it is by far my favorite! They do a great job on wearing Josie out!

 

[MeganUK]

Good luck, Shanoa on your visit!

 

[MeadowCat]

Yay!

Our visits went great! Our first visit was in an individual home with a hospice patient and Shanoa was wonderful. We kept it quite short. We then proceeded to a nursing home facility to see two hospice patients. Of course, we ended up visiting quite a few residents that were our of their rooms and socializing. Shanoa was fantastic with all of them. She got rave reviews.

As soon as we were done at the facility we went outside for a break and she immediately did a whole body shake, so I know it was hard work for her and a bit stressful, but she was excellent. I was so proud of her! She was gentle and initiated contact with each person that wanted to meet her. She was patient with the people who struggled to be able to pet her.

We then headed over to the home office to meet the hospice staff. Even though she was tired and had worked hard she met everyone and did well. Then we hopped in the car to head home. She got a beef trachea for her reward on the way home. She's been sleeping now for over two hours since we got home. She's exhausted!

 

[bean]

Great report - good girl Shanoa!

 

[dobegal]

Roxy and I are in. I enjoy visiting the VA Assisted Living Home. I get so much our of those visits. I always leave feeling so filled with joy. I go with 3 other members of TDInc. and their dogs. One is an Aussie Cattle Dog that was rescued from Hurrican Katrina, the other is a huge long haired Aika and then Roxy. We are a scheduled visit the first Saturday of every month and then we go every other Saturday also. This summer when I have more time I want to find a reading program. It is hard work for the dogs and Roxy comes home tired however you can see how much she enjoys it. Heck do you know a better way for a Dobie to get unlimited petting.

 

[StarlightDobe]

Therapy work is so rewarding, I really miss it, Mysti loved doing it so much. I remember how she would wiggle her butt and dance around every time we got ready to make a visit. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital she would dance around the truck.

I am working on teaching Bella a few things she will need to know for her visits, and I will be calling a few local nursing facilities to see about some training visits with her. She is very calm and should do quite well with the work. I just hope Nexus doesn't get too jealous about Bella going out all the time. I will have to make a point to take her out for some special walks by herself to make up for it.

 

[bean]

OK, perfect thread for this - I got Silas a new vest as we have been borrowing one from the humane society that we're volunteering through.

I was in the midst of sewing the patches on and am not sure which way I like it better. Opinions?

My original intent was this first one, but I kinda like this second one, too - maybe easier to read both separately?

Whatcha think?

The middle Delta patch and one round "pet me" patch are already sewn on, so I'm not pulling those stitches.


Edit -
Actually, seeing them side by side like that I'm leaning toward the first one again. Hmmmm....

 

[MeadowCat]

I like the first one, only because I think it's easier to see once the vest is actually on Si. It seems like maybe the small "therapy dog" sign might not be as readable if it's up on top of his back (unless that part isn't on his back, and is on his side?).

How many visits do you guys usually do in one session? My intention today was to only visit the three people on hospice that we were scheduled to visit. The hospice patients that we visit are not in a separate hospice facility, they are in regular care centers. I thought more than three people might be a bit much for Shanoa. But once we were in the care center for the second two patients there were like 15 other people that wanted to meet her. She did fine with it, but I wasn't thinking of doing so much! I don't want to push her too hard.

I'm really, really lucky that my husband is the hospice chaplain. So he's actually going with me on visits so he does a lot of the talking to patients. I'm obviously there and the one handling Shanoa, but it's super helpful to have him with.

 

[bean]

OK, here it is!

As far as # of visits in one session, I think the length of time is what I focus on. We've done 2 hour sessions at the reading program, usually 20-30 minutes at a time, however he gets a short break in between if he needs it - even just walking to "get" the next person. I give him a longer break after an hour - he plays with a stuffed toy that he only gets when he's working. He gets to play or go outside and not be "on" for a bit. I don't think I'd ever do more than 2 hours unless there was a long break in between whatever we were doing.

When we've done nursing home /assisted living visits, ours have been set up as group sessions or going from person to person in one smaller area. We haven't gone into individual rooms at the facilities we've gone to. Again, I think the length of time is more important - we've done hour sessions for those. In that kind of situation you could take a break after X time or X visits once you noticed she was needing it.

How long did you do today? It probably depends on the individual dog. Individual sessions might be less mentally tiring than hanging out in a group or walking from person to person and making rounds? Not sure. I know you're in tune with her, so just watch her and gauge it depending on her body language. You'll get a better feel for how she's doing after you do it a few more times.

 

[MeadowCat]

The vest looks great! Shanoa did maybe an hour and half? I am trying to keep it short because it is stressful for her, even if she enjoys it. She had two breaks during that time, too.

I think for her the amount of people may be just as important as the length of the visits.

How often do you guys visit? We're looking at probably once a week.

 

[StarlightDobe]

I was going to say I liked the second one, as the Therapy Dog patches would have been easier to see, but I guess Im too late.
Mysti had a red vest that she wore, if I get a chance I will take a photo of Bella wearing it when she goes on her next outing. I think we will be setting something up for next week.

 

[bean]

We went to the Wordstock festival yesterday and he just did fantastic! He makes me so proud whenever we go out and do this kind of thing.

It was very loud and chaotic - lots of vendors and people everywhere, kids running around, and people giving talks over microphones right near the area where we were reading. Basically kids could come in and read to them as long as there wasn't another person waiting or as long as they got bored. There was another dog there, a very sweet male (english) yellow lab, so I was proud to represent the Dobes. He was just great - social, sweet, calm, gentle, babies crawling up to him and he was so wonderful.

It's definitely work, though - he came home and crashed hard.

 

[MeadowCat]

Si is just awesome. He sounds like the perfect therapy dog.

We did another visit on Friday (the day after our first visits). Shanoa had a little bit harder time, and I think it's because it was the second day in a row, so I'm going to try not to do that again. The patient was pretty unresponsive, though she was able to put her hand on Shanoa and pet her a bit.

Hospice can be a bit tough. You just never know what state the patient will be in. It's harder when they aren't very responsive.

 

[StarlightDobe]

When we used to go to the hospital we used to go for about 2 hours, sometimes more if she was up to it and depending on how long it took us to make the rounds on the floor. If alot of the patients wanted to visit sometimes it would take longer, sometimes if she wasnt up to the task we would cut our visits a little shorter. It all depends on the dog and how the visits go. You want to visit with all the people who want to see the dog but you also have to keep the dogs mood in mind. If she's having an off day maybe make sure that each individual visit is shorter, so you can see a few more people, or if she is feeling real good you can make it a little longer. With Mysti we had to keep in mind her health issues, but I think that the visiting did her as much good as it did the patients, she was never real stressed and she stayed relaxed for the time we were out doing our rounds. Usually the place she would have a hard time with was the nursing care homes. Im not sure why but sometimes she would get a little nervous or stressed with the older people. If they tended to be clingy to the attention she would get antsy.
Basically just watch the dog and you will see a pattern develop and you will be able to tell how long you should spend on the visits. It will become routine when you have done it a few times.

 

[MeadowCat]

I think one thing that makes it harder for us is that we're going to different facilities all the time. We might not go the same place each week, depending on which location the patient is at. This hospice is part of an organization that has around 30 locations in the area, and the hospice patients can be at any of those locations. So sometimes it's a completely new place for Shanoa, which of course can add some stress as it's unfamiliar.

It's funny - Shanoa LOVES nursing homes. Since my husband worked in one when we first got her we've been bringing her to the nursing home since she was young. She thinks the elderly are the best! They are generally calm, sitting down, moving slowly...right up her alley!