Working Girl - And I Mean the Dog

[Cacophony]

I'm so proud of the pup!

The greyhound and I have been at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital all weekend going through intensive orientation and testing to certify us as a Therapy Animal team. I was a little worried because we've only had her for six odd months and when she came to us she was very lost - she's a retired racing greyhound and at 18 months old was pulled off of the track, dumped in the back of a van with 8 other greys, shuttled across the US/CAN border, stuffed into an assessment home setting to see how she'd adapt, seperated from the rest of the greys into a foster home, adopted once, returned a week later, stuffed into an emergancy foster home, resettled into a more permanent foster home... and then we adopted her two weeks later. That's a LOT for anyone, nevermind a puppy. She spent the first week behind the couch shaking like a chihuahua and refusing to make eye contact with anyone. I've been working hard with her, pretty much dragging her out of her shell and encouraging her training.

She was AMAZING. Completely calm... especially considering they put a RABBIT of all things in the same orientation class. Seriously, people: this is a dog bred to hunt and kill rabbits and she's been specifically trained from 6 weeks old to chase the "bunny". She didn't even pick her head up off of her blanket after I told her to leave Bandit alone and she was the only dog that didn't cry and whine the first hour the rabbit was hopping around on his table. She was group hugged. She had wheelchairs rolled into her face. She had her ears carefully pinched to see how she'd react. They made weird noises, hid cheese cubes all around the room to see if she'd sneak them, made her ride up and down in an elevator... it was an extensive, exhausting weekend for both of us.

We need to do three practicum visits and we'll have earned her working scarf. This is a huge accomplishment considering how young she is and how new everything around the house is to her. I am SO excited to see what she'll be like when she figures out the job and what I'm asking her to do. The amount of potential in this dog for Therapy work is uncalculable.

We both need a nap now.

[athousandwords]

Congrats to you and the pup! It sounds like she is going to do great! Can you explain more about what a Therapy Animal team does, and how you got involved? I love animals (I adopted two kitties of my own), so I'm curious!

[Cacophony]

Can you explain more about what a Therapy Animal team does, and how you got involved?

Depending on where you are, there are a couple of ways to do it. Just like anything else I'd recommend going through some kind of certfication course both for the information and the insurance coverage. Once she has her scarf we're under their policy if anything were to happen... for example if she puts up a foot and accidentally scratches the paper-thin skin some seniors have. Totally non-aggressive and unintentional, however if it gets infected it could be very very bad.

First I'll go over how to get involved: I contacted the Edmonton Pet Therapy Society in the city here. Initially I had to attend a two hour session explaining exactly what kind of programs the Society has running, what they're looking for in a team, what kind of training they need the pet to have, and they give you a whole whack load of paperwork. From there we booked her pre-assessment. I had to show she could behave on the leash, would sit when asked to, would allow people to approach us, and would allow herself to be handled. A fair number of very well meaning people think that just because the dog likes them it will like everyone... and not all of them do. After the pre-assessment green light there's more paperwork and we had to submit an extensive vet exam including a fecal sample, the vet filled out a questionaire asking her experience with that specific animal and her opinion on how suitable she would be for therapy work, and information on what kind of vaccination/worming schedule she was on. I had to attend (again, without the dog) an actual therapy session with a group of working teams so that I could see exactly what was expected. Once they had all of those papers we were booked in for the hardcore weekend assessment. They made her and I jump through every single hoop they could think of, we got a lesson in zoonoses (transfer of communicable diseases cross-species) and risk management. Once she's passed that she was assigned a number of practicum visits between 3-6 to build our confidence and offer a little more supervision until the Society was sure we had our feet under us and then we're let loose with a list of programs we can apply for and an introduction letter we can take to programs that are interested in Pet Therapy but aren't registered yet with the Society. It's long, it's complicated, and it's that way on purpose. With that introductory letter I have proof that I'm not just "bringing in Fido" because I think it's a good idea. They've done everything they can to insure she's equipped to handle the job and that she's suitable for it. We're both exhausted.

Types of Programs: There are group/team sessions where a couple of dog/handler teams hang out in a common area and people come down if they feel like it. There are one-on-one visits where you go into someone's room and it's just the two of you. In both of those formats you could be visiting hospitals, senior's residences, rehab centers, mental hospitals, anywhere they can get an animal in that animals usually aren't allowed. If the handler can take it, the pallitive care unit desperately needs the animal contact, the burn ward, the oncology units. Some of the children's hospitals try to have animals come in when the kids get chemo treatments because they find they don't have to medicate with as many painkillers to keep the child comfortable if the kid has his/her hands full of fur while they're going through the process. They use them to encourage people refusing to participate in mobility therapy... I could go on and on about the medical aspects.

They also have programs through the women's and young offenders programs. Out here they let a group of the more energetic dogs off leash in the outdoor lockdown with kids who've earned a spot in the session, using it as a reward for good behavior, and it's an afternoon of ball throwing and goofing off and drooling and being a normal kid. The libraries and some of the schools are working with the PAWS for a Story program, in which a child with sub-standard reading ability and/or interest gets to sit down and read a book to the dog or tell the dog stories from the pictures if they can't figure out the words. We have a group set up for people who are in mourning because of the loss of any family member, be it animal or people, and who just need that little bit of connection to get themselves through it. At the center they offer activites where they do crafts for the special needs groups around the city with a bunch of animals present and if anyone wants to pet, they pet. If they'd rather glitter glue and sticker, they do that instead. It's very relaxed.

Basically, any situation where you wish would find yourself in that you really wished you could just see your kittens for two minutes... those are the places we try to go. One of the things that kept being repeated over and over this weekend was this "You'd be amazed what a cold, wet nose can cure, even if it's only for a few minutes."

For example, when we got upstairs for her assessment we were introduced to one of the current residents, a gentleman named Chris. He's very recently had a stroke. The moment his fingers came in contact with Mercy's ears he started to cry - not because he was unhappy but because his emotions were still so very very close to the surface from the attack that he really had no control over them. He kept apologizing over and over, stroking her ears and face, running his fingers over the muscles in her back and asking questions about the breed. Ten minutes of my time. Ten minutes and you could see how hard he was working to be gentle, to force his hand to move in a way that I'm sure he never thought about before the stroke. And I'M the one who got a thank you.... An hour of time can save your soul. I have never in my life felt as mortal and as humble as I did in that moment. Hell, I'm crying now trying to write it down.

All I can say is, volunteer. It doesn't matter what, it doesn't matter how long, just do what you can. It's the only way to stay human.

[werwolf]

How wonderful! Yey for greyhounds and their amazingly patient adoptive parents! The people who watch greyhound races will never know how much strain and stress those dogs are under (I'm not entirely sure they would care, but I like to hope they would). It is fan-freaking-tastic that you and your baby girl can now be so helpful. Well done to both of you!!

[athousandwords]

Wow, thank you for the in depth information! I just shot off an email to the local Pet Therapy org to ask if they accept cats (their website specifies dogs, birds, and pocket-animals - why no kitty love?). Have you seen cats in your program or training? I imagine the requirements are similar to a small animal like a rabbit, but maybe not? I'm worried in particular to how well-behaved they would have to be around dogs (and vice versa).

Both my cats are incredibly friendly toward strangers and super cuddly. I think it would be great if they could help others!

In the mean time, best of luck with the remaining process toward getting your dog her scarf - keep us updated! And a picture of the cutie would certainly not be unwelcome...!

[Raincloak]

Wow, congrats to your dog for the long way she's come, and congrats to you for getting her there! (I'm particularly impressed she was able to resist chasing the bunny.) Bless both of you.

[Rob]

Thats great. Congrats.

I adobted a retired racing Greyhound. She was a great dog and everyone was always so curious about her past. It was also really cool to let her off the leash and watch her run once in a while.

[Cacophony]

Wow, thank you for the in depth information! I just shot off an email to the local Pet Therapy org to ask if they accept cats (their website specifies dogs, birds, and pocket-animals - why no kitty love?).

The birds surprises me a little bit due to a salmonella risk - ours doesn't accept reptiles, turtles/tortoise and birds for that reason. =) We definitely have kitties in the program and they would have to be able to be around dogs without becoming upset. They don't have to interact nose to nose... LOL But they do have to be able to share space. A lot of places have a resident cat that your kitty also would have to leave alone. The big thing is how much attention they'll give to the person they're supposed to be visiting as compared to any other animals present. This society also recommends working with one animal at a time even if you live with more than one certified animal. There's just so much you have to watch for and be careful of that it's nearly impossible to safely keep an eagle eye on multiple animals AND carry on a conversation with whomever you're visiting. Does that help? =)

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[CokeCanNinja]

Cat's aren't as social as dogs, until you get into the big cats such as Lions. And that certainly wouldn't work for therapy.

[Cacophony]

Cat's aren't as social as dogs, until you get into the big cats such as Lions. And that certainly wouldn't work for therapy.

I will argue that one until I'm blue in the face, Coke.... =) Cats, just like dogs, come with a huge variety of personalities and temperments. Just like dogs, some breeds have been selected and bred for temperment for generations. When we still had the two cats, one of'em thought he was a dog and I not only trained him to sit on command, he fetched and was the first one at the door when you came home. The other furball was a Ragdoll - who are named such because of their habit of wanting to be constantly with you and for going deadweight when you sling them. They relax so much when being carried they're almost limp. My three year old carried ours around (we were correcting her) upside down half the time and she's purr like a motor boat. It depends totally on how much feral instinct the cat has, how they were raised, and how socialized they are. While not AS domesticated as dogs, they're definitely no longer wild. =)

[CokeCanNinja]

While not AS domesticated as dogs, they're definitely no longer wild. =)

They still posses a much stronger hunting instinct then dogs.

[Cacophony]

They still posses a much stronger hunting instinct then dogs.

I'd love to see you tell my greyhound that the next time she sees a rabbit take off across the field and my shoulder is dislocated because it takes her three strides to hit 55km an hour.... it totally depends on the cat. When I was a kid, my budgie used to perch on the top of my best friend's cat's head... and poor Oberon would sit there with this confused look on his face. You could almost hear him thinking "Something about this... thing. I'm supposed to be... ummm... I know there's something I'm supposed to be doing but... naw, it's gone. Hey, Petri, how's it hangin?" This is the same cat that mistook her hamster for a kitten and not only aggressively protected the damn thing from their other cat when it got out, but would constantly clean the poor thing. I'm surprised the hamster didn't going into cardiac arrest.

[CokeCanNinja]

It does depend on the animal, however on average cats are less social and hunt more. One of my cats is so impatient if you don't give him food shortly after he asks for it he goes and kills something and eats that.

[Cacophony]

It does depend on the animal, however on average cats are less social and hunt more.

That totally depends on what the dog was bred for. That specific cat sounds like more hunt bred - dogs are the same way with the hunt breeds and ratting dogs. The average miniature pinscer has more prey and hunt drive than the average barn cat... and they're relentless about it. My greyhound with any moving target is lazer sighted - there's no brain function beyond the intense drive to GET IT NOW. Nothing stops her once she targets and runs... not traffic, not terrain, not broken limbs. I've seen lure coursing greyhounds run half a course with a shattered leg. You won't find a cat that will do that. Mainly because dogs have been bred intentionally to possess such an insane level of prey drive that it borderline over-rides their sense of self-preservation. The average fluffy-lap-squishface-drooler... I'll give you that one complete. The hunt breeds I'll still stand behind. Some of the hunt breeds have no interest in people, have no interest in pleasing people, and are often described almost "cat-like" in that respect. Basenji, shiba inu, some lines of husky, greyhounds, whippets, and a handful of the hardcore ratting terriers... I've been in the business for 20 odd years, groomed hundreds of breeds of dogs and cross breeds, as well as hundreds of domestic and feral cats. They're different. It's like comparing apples to oranges, especially if you start to take into considering the number of apple species and cross species. =)