by Jan Reisen Published on American Kennel Club website: July 31, 2019 Dogs have been aiding and working with humans since ancient times, in everything from farming to hunting to protection and more. Service dogs, emotional support animals, and therapy dogs all fulfill important roles in their aid to humans, but the terms are not…
Dolores (better known as Kelly) Wolff and her Shih Tzu, Miss Daisy, have been part of the Nor’wester Therapy Dog organization for the past eleven years. Kelly learned about our canine assisted learning program from another therapy dog handler while volunteering at Abington Hospital. Because Miss Daisy loves children so much, Kelly decided to join…
“IDEAS FOR INCORPORATING ANIMAL-ASSISTED INTERVENTIONS” (taken from 101 Creative Ideas for Animal Assisted Therapy by Stacy Grover) LET’S TALK: A therapy dog team working under the direction of a professional can facilitate discussion on many topics. Commonalities: This is a very powerful metaphoric tool in the hands of skilled therapists. Using carefully selected children’s literature…
Maria Alden, retired third grade teacher from Maureen M. Welch Elementary in Council Rock School District, hosted a black Lab therapy dog for five years. She created a therapy dog related activity which helped motivate her children throughout the year. Maria purchased an inexpensive black Lab statue at the Dollar Store and introduced it to…
Howard Barkan with Winnie and Debbie Glessner with Hannah and Heidi did ESY (extended school year) visits to Goodnoe Elementary in Council Rock School District to work with Lindsay Hawthorne’s class. One of her students, Nate Whitney, wrote about his experiences with Winnie and Hannah. Petting Hannah Therapy Dogs By Nate Whitney My experience with…
Nor’wester’s public library liaison & coordinator, Lynn Lenz, worked with librarians Sarah Ravapinto and Christy Lazzarino to offer a six week vacation program of READ TO THE DOGS at the Richboro public library. The program started on June 27th and ran weekly on Thursdays through August 8th. Therapy dogs were provided by the Nor’wester organization…
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More letters from the kids. . . Patrick makes me more happy and more confident when he’s around. He’s good to have near because he’s soft and gives confidence and happiness. That’s why I like having Patrick around. Grant Patrick has been a very good therapy dog. He has helped me by making me overcome…
By Shelby Wetzel Crawford and her kids More letters from the kids. . . Patrick is something that I look forward to because I had a dog come in my classroom before. It is so cool to have a dog in your classroom. I like Patrick coming into my class. Scarlett Patrick is so amazing…
Sue Oakes of Oakes K9 Training and Kathy Gardosh are both evaluators who are certified to do the AKC Canine Good Citizen and the Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs tests. Sue has over 30 years of experience training dogs and specializes in canine behavioral cases. She is a former certified animal control officer and a…