Here’s a great news report about some local work by Therapy Dogs of Vermont. The benefits of petting a dog are pretty well documented at this point, but it’s great to see the. . .
Read MoreVideo: Vermont Therapy Dogs in Action
therapy dogs
The Rise of Animal-Assisted Therapy
Ellen Winston and Sasha are a certified therapy team, through Professional Therapy Dogs of Colorado.
Photo via animalassistedtherapyprograms.org/
Here’s a fascinating story from Colorado, about a therapist who uses a dog in one of the most tense and fraught situations of her profession: couples therapy. Ellen Winston—of Lakewood, Colorado—has an assistant named Sasha who. . .
Read MoreVideo: Rescue Dog and Sandy Hook Student Form Special Bond
This story has so many wonderful facets, it’s hard to fit them all into one blog post. A young girl who lost friends and teachers in the Sandy Hook shooting last December meets a rescued Pit Bull who is reborn as a therapy dog, and there is an instant bond.
Read MoreReading with Ladybug
Declan & Katia Rini share a story with Ladybug on a comfy Orvis dog bed
Photo by Sheila Guevin
The Anne Arundel County Public Library in Crofton, MD hosts a very popular program for young readers called “Reading with Ladybug”. Therapy dog Ladybug, a Yorkshire Terrier, is trained…
Read MoreNew Yorkers Using Bogus Therapy Dog Tags, Making Things Difficult for Real Service Dogs
A fake therapy dog accompanies its owner in a New York grocery store.
Photo via nypost.com
We post frequently about situations in which people with service dogs are either denied service or asked to leave a business, and we are usually pretty hard on the business owners and employees who make these wrongheaded and illegal decisions. But we must be equally strong in our disapproval of folks who. . .
Read MoreBlind Therapy Dog Continues to Raise Awareness for Autism
Dutchess the Golden Retriever is giving new meaning to the cliché “Love is blind.” When a degenerative disease robbed Dutchess of her eyesight in 2010, her career as an autism ambassador and therapy dog was in jeopardy. But in the. . .
Read MoreVideo: How How Therapy Dogs Help in a Crisis
Spartacus with high-school students in Newtown, Connecticut, after the Sandy Hook tragedy.
Photo via wtnh.com
We post fairly frequently about therapy dogs rushing to the scene of a tragedy (shootings, bombings, tornadoes), but we rarely get good insight into exactly what these therapy dogs do. In this video, Brad Cole discusses his experience bringing his Akita, Spartacus, to help after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting and the. . .
Read MoreBlind Pug Works as Therapy Dog in Oregon
Xander provides a moment of joy and calm at a local daycare.
Photo via npr.org
Here’s a great story from southern Oregon, where Xander the Pug brings warmth, calm, and joy to many in his community. This is all the more impressive because the little dog is blind, having lost his sight due to an accident in puppyhood. He also has some respiratory problems that require him to breath through his. . .
Read MorePeaches the Wonder Pit Travels to Tornado-Damaged Oklahoma
Peaches poses with a Red Cross worker in Moore, Oklahoma.
Photo via Facebook
According to her Facebook page, Peaches the Wonder Pit is a “super cool therapy dog.” Rescued from a terrible abuse situation, Peaches now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and provides all kinds of therapy functions, from visiting local nursing homes to welcoming home soldiers from deployment to visiting victims of. . .
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