Pawsitive Living

Juletta and Bailey

This week, I was touched emotionally in several ways. First of all, on Sunday I watched Jaycee Dugard’s interview and was impressed that she is using Animal-Assisted Therapy as a part of her treatment after years of abuse when she was kidnapped.  What a wonderful testament to the healing power of Animal- Assisted Therapy!

I was also very touched by my visit last Thursday to Hill Crest Behavioral Health Services. This Pawsitive Living visit is a 12-week program for adolescent girls. The group was small at my visit which gave the girls a wonderful opportunity to really interact with the dogs and get one on one attention from the pet partners. The program was run by Sonia, who has been a school teacher. She was great at keeping the girls engaged and teaching them important lessons while also making the experience a lot of fun. The first activity that we did was with emotion cards. The cards had either: happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised or a question mark on them. Sonia then asked some questions about feelings such as how you feel about shopping, food, your family, and with each question you held up your emotion to that item. It was a great lesson about the diversity of feelings that a group of people can have about the same thing and being aware that other people may have different emotions from each other. It was also good for the girls to discuss why they felt the way they did about the things she asked about.  



Carrie and Spice



We next went around the room and talked about what made us the happiest. I was so pleased to hear most of the girls say that being with their family and friends made them the happiest. Many people included their pets in their family as part of what makes them happy as well! Sonia taught the girls about safety with the dogs and the importance of remembering that as wonderful as all the Hand in Paw dogs are, they are still animals and can do unexpected things.  Terri and Abby showed the girls some of the skills that must be performed during evaluations for the animal therapy teams. Hand in Paw animals must pass several tests to be registered for visits. Earlier this summer I was able to volunteer at an evaluation, and I was amazed at all the components that the animals must be proficient in. We really ask for a lot of discipline and focus from therapy animals.

Terri and Abby

Ingrid and Katie

Pat and Allie

Kaci and Maggie

The best part of the night was when the girls practiced leading the dogs. At the end of their program, part of their “graduation” is a visit to the main hospital with the animals and pet partners. They can experience what it is like to be a volunteer with Hand in Paw. This introduces a positive outlet for them as well as a way to give back. Each girl took a turn leading a dog with the animal’s owner on the other side. After everyone had a turn, Sonia asked them how they felt. I was surprised to learn that most of the girls were concerned that they would mess up at first. After successfully leading the dogs they all said they were happy and excited that they had done it correctly.

   



These girls are really special. I could tell that over time, there had been such improvements in their relationships with the animals and the pet partners. They had many more sessions left and I can’t wait to go back and see those relationships grow. These long-term programs really have a strong impact because they allow for bonds to develop. I was amazed watching the faces of the girls over the hour and a half we were there. They came into the room with all kinds of different emotions, but they all left with the sweetest smiles on their faces. The dogs really changed their moods and they became more and more verbal as they felt more comfortable. This visit was such a testament to the emotional effects from the unconditional love we can receive from animals.

Learning with Animals

Last Friday I went on a great visit to the LJCC day camp that is presented by Hand in Paw called Learning with Animals. The kids at the camp were 1^st grade and up. I attended camp on the final day and I was amazed by how attentive and well-behaved the children were. They learned about therapy animals, how to train the dogs and they even got to demonstrate giving commands to the animals. I could tell they had learned a lot over the week about how to treat pets and safety around animals. After the kids left, I spoke with one of the Hand in Paw volunteers that is a school teacher. I asked her about the difference in the children’s attention and discipline as compared with her school children. She said she felt that the dogs had a calming effect on the kids. She also noticed that the interaction with the animals was a motivating factor for the children to behave. In addition to better behavior, several children were observed “coming out of their shells” as a result of the dogs. The more shy children made new friends more easily because they could bond with the other children with the help of the animals.  In my experience, people are far more social when animals are present.

Daisy and Bethenee and their campers

 Another interesting thing that I observed was when one little girl became upset over something and was crying. One of the dogs stayed right by her side until she felt better. Daisy’s pet partner said that she is very attuned to people’s emotions. The little girl had a visible improvement in her affect and mood while her furry companion paid so much attention to her. I am constantly amazed by the wonderful situations that I observe while going on these visits. I believe that I have a unique perspective, while the pet partners must remain aware of their animals and the people who they are visiting, I can sit back and watch for the subtle things that happen.  I am so excited to share these important, sometimes small,  impacts with the people who devote so much time, energy and love to Hand in Paw.