Category: Animal House
Ruth Comes To Rescue Of Therapy Dog
POSTED: 4:36 pm EDT April 29, 2005
UPDATED: 4:47 pm EDT April 29, 2005
Local 4's Ruth Spencer came to the rescue of a dog whose healing mission was on the verge of being cut short.
Molly the dachshund is more than a pet. Her mission as a therapy dog is to bring comfort to children in hospitals.
Molly participates with Therapaws, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization that brings trained therapy dogs to patients who need social or emotional support.
But Molly recently took her last trip to the hospital because her owners, the Blacks, of Port Huron, were on a fixed income.
"Now that gasoline has become so expensive, it's getting to be a problem," said Mary Lou Black, Molly's owner. "It costs us about $25 round-trip. It's about 200 miles."
The Blacks would regularly drive Molly to CS Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor.
The couple said it breaks their hearts not to be able to continue the therapy.
Molly charms everyone, but especially the children at the hospital. They often miss their own pets at home, so a few minutes with Molly are priceless, Local 4 reported.
"Seeing her in these cute outfits brings cheer to a sad person's face," said Eddie McClendon, a patient visiting with Molly.
Local 4 informed Pet Supplies Plus about Molly's dilemma and Joe Fucini, a representative of the retail chain, met Spencer at the hospital to deliver a surprise.
"This is the first month, and we'll be sending you $300 a quarter for the rest of the year," said Fucini, who presented Mary Lou Black with the funds.
The company agreed to help with transportation so Molly's trips can continue.
Copyright 2005 by ClickOnDetroit.com.
In a quiet corner of the Ann Arbor District Library on Sunday, Taylor Patton read a story to Kaylee.
Taylor, 10, is a fourth-grader at Thurston Elementary School in Ann Arbor. Kaylee is a dog.
But Kaylee, a 10-year-old golden retriever mix, is no ordinary mutt. She is a certified therapy dog, specially trained as a reading-education assistance dog. The READ program, organized by Therapaws of Michigan, Inc., made its debut at the Ann Arbor library Sunday.
The idea is simple and effective, according to Karen O’Connor, president of Therapaws and READ coordinator. The dogs are a calm, welcoming presence. They aren’t critical and don’t care if they hear the same book 100 times.
The kids open up to the dogs in ways they wouldn’t with people, and the interaction helps build a child’s confidence and reading skills. The program helps kids in the early elementary grades.
“There’s no judgment here,” said O’Connor, a former elementary school teacher. “If they miss a word, Kaylee doesn’t care.”
Kaylee snuggled up to Taylor on a blanket as she read a book about Smutter, a mischievous Dalmatian. Taylor stroked Kaylee’s soft golden fur and played with her foot as she read. Taylor’s grandparents, Terry and Pat Patton, watched, smiling from the back of the room.
“I really love dogs and I love to read to them,” Taylor said at the end of her 10-minute session. Taylor thanked Kaylee by giving her a treat. Kaylee, with O’Connor’s help, gave Taylor a bookmark with the dog’s picture on it.
Next was Taylor’s 6-year-old sister, Emily, who is just learning to read. She kept her hand on Kaylee’s head as she read her a book full of barnyard animal sounds. Emily liked the experience because “I get to pet her while I’m reading,” she said.
Downstairs, in another quiet room, Denise Pitcher introduced 4-year-old Bliss Han to her 125-pound rottweiler.
“This is Gianni,” Pitcher said. “He loves stories.”
Bliss whizzed through an animated reading of a book about a coconut tree. “Chicka chicka boom boom,” she read to Gianna as he lay quietly on a colorful quilt on the floor.
When she was done, she selected a sticker with a dog’s picture inscribed with ‘I read to Gianni today at the Ann Arbor District Library” and proudly pasted it to her aqua jumper. Then she prepared to go to the ice cream store with her dad, Jae-hoon Han – who had videotaped the session – and mom, Younhee Jee.
About 23 children ages 4 to 10 signed up to read to Kaylee and Gianni on Sunday, according to Eva Davis, the library’s youth services manager. The dogs will return for more session in April, May and June.
The READ program was started in November 1999 in the Salt Lake City Public Library by Sandi Martin, a member of the Intermountain Therapy Animals program and a former ICU nurse.
Martin had seen the benefits of therapy dogs in hospital settings and theorized that gentle dogs could also build reading skills in children.
In Washtenaw County, the READ program started last fall at the Chelsea District library, where it has been very successful, according to O’Connor. Therapaws is to launch a READ program for second-graders in the Dexter Public Schools this week.
The dogs are certified therapy dogs who also have the willingness to lie still for an hour at a time and are comfortable with children, said Pitcher, who also takes Gianni to the Chelsea library program.
“The kids feel so empowered,” she said. “They know Gianni won’t laugh at them or criticize. He likes to be read to.”
“Whenever I put his Therapaws vest on him, he runs around the house very excited because he knows he’s coming to see the kids.”
Therapaws of Michigan is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization whose goal is to facilitate healing and to provide emotional and social support for those who are hospitalized or residing in a long-term care facility due to an acute or chronic illness.
All registered therapaws owner-dog teams go through rigorous screening and testing. Through team visits, we bring the healing power of our companion dogs to those in need.
Therapy Dogs, Inc., a national organization that establishes training and temperament standards for working therapy dogs, registers, certifies, and provides insurance for our teams.
For more information: http://www.therapaws.org/Home-Therapaws.aspx
regarding seisure dogs information may be obtained at: http://www.bcepilepsy.com/pdfs/Seizure_Dogs.pdf
In 1979, PAWS WITH A CAUSE, first named, Ears for the Deaf, came to be in existence. For more information: paws@pawswithacause.org