Animals 4 Therapy

03/02/2021

And sometimes they don’t even need to be real❤️.

12/22/2020

Something furry and soft - sometimes that’s all you need❤️.

12/04/2020

TGIF!

06/20/2020

We know about the “reading to dogs” program, but this seems so much more entertaining!

05/23/2020

Well deserved!❤️

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WSET) -- A staffer at Virginia Tech is getting recognized for hiscareer serving and supporting the university community. He's also sure to receive plenty of treats and a hearty 'Good boy! ' they said. Moose, an 8-year-old therapy dog at Virginia Tech’s Cook Counseling Center,....

03/03/2020

A reason to live...

Judy, a purebred pointer, was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific, and was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp. There she met Aircraftsman Frank Williams, who shared his small portion of rice with her.

Judy raised morale in the POW camp, and also barked when poisonous snakes, crocodiles or even tigers approached the prisoners. When the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore, she was smuggled out in a rice sack, never whimpering or betraying her presence to the guards.

The next day, that ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15-foot drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship, but was then recaptured and sent to a new POW camp.

He didn't know if Judy had survived, but soon he began hearing stories about a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris after the shipwreck. And when Williams arrived at the new camp, he said: "I couldn’t believe my eyes! As I walked through the gate, a scraggly dog hit me square between the shoulders and knocked me over. I’d never been so glad to see the old girl!"

They spent a year together at that camp in Sumatra. "Judy saved my life in so many ways," said Williams. "But the greatest of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was look into those weary, bloodshot eyes and ask myself: 'What would happen to her if I died?' I had to keep going."

Once hostilities ceased, Judy was then smuggled aboard a troopship heading back to Liverpool. In England, she was awarded the Dickin Medal (the "Victoria Cross" for animals) in May 1946. Her citation reads: "For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness".

At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles for his devotion to Judy. Frank and Judy spent a year after the war visiting the relatives of English POWs who had not survived, and Frank said that Judy "always provided a comforting presence to the families."

When Judy finally died at the age of 13, Frank spent two months building a granite and marble memorial in her memory, which included a plaque describing her life story.

01/22/2020

Something to remember...

I was having a panic attack & Atlas was tasking. Even w/people boarding & kids squealing out “doggie!” Atlas was focused. Then came a boy with a puppy straining on the end of a flexi-leash. Its eyes were huge with fear searching for shelter in the chaos. He saw Atlas & attacked, lunging, barking, & snapping. The handler & parents did nothing: no comfort for the terrified pup; no apology; no concern to see if their dog had injured mine. Atlas ignored it but the attack shook him. A few minutes later he missed a seizure alert for the first time in months. I starting seizing out of my seat & hit my head on the window.

This is an increasingly familiar experience for service dog (SD) handlers as more people violate the boundaries of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Non-disabled people tell us:

“No one complains about my dog in stores!”
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“She’s my baby, I can’t leave her!”
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“It’s not like I’m hurting anyone!”
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“He gets scared alone so I bought him a vest.”
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“I got a doctors note online!”
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“I bought a certificate & ID so my pet can go everywhere!”
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Whether ignorance or arrogance many people are convinced that it’s their right to use ESA & SD laws to manipulate the system, break the rules, & avoid federal prosecution. But the reality is most dogs aren’t equipped to handle stressful public situations & can behave unpredictably when they are thrown into an environment they aren’t trained to handle.

Faking a SD is not a victimless crime. It puts disabled people & their medical equiptment at risk. It causes us to be harassed, refused service, & illegally barred from resources non-disabled people enjoy. Businesses that have bad experiences with pets illegally bar disabled handlers from Ubers, hotels, restaurants, stores, & housing. Every year people lose their SDs because of attacks, harassment, & injuries. Many handlers become afraid to risk leaving their homes.

It‘s exciting to bring your dog with you to pet-friendly stores, restaurants, & hotels! But bringing your dog into spaces illegally has far-reaching ramifications that you can’t always see. Help protect disabled people’s lives. If a business isn’t pet-friendly leave your pet at home.

12/23/2019

A Premiere!
We can now include Park County Seniors Center as one of our facilities!

12/21/2019

Photo from 1955.
The title was “A few seconds before happiness”.

12/15/2019

Smoky the Yorkshire Terrier may just be the smallest war hero you've never heard of.

12/06/2019

A tribute to Sully, Bush 41's last four-legged family member, was unveiled in College Station.

11/26/2019

https://www.today.com/video/therapy-dogs-give-young-st-jude-patients-a-reason-to-smile-74096709755

As our Thanks + Giving TODAY series highlighting the work being done at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital continues, NBC’s Kerry Sanders shows how therapy dogs give young cancer patients a reason to smile. Marlo Thomas, National Outreach Director for St. Jude, joins TODAY with news about the...