Volunteering your boxer at a nursing home

[malinda]

The human society in our area has a program where you can take your puppy or dog into a nursing home to visit with the elderly. Wondering if anyone has done this before? Thinking maybe after the holidays I would like to do this with Megan.

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Mom of Megan-flashy, female, fawn boxer. Natural ears and docked tail. Born 5/23/00.
<A HREF="http://people.ne.mediaone.net/younme/megan.htm" TARGET=_blank> http://people.ne.mediaone.net/younme/megan.htm </A>

 

[Brutus and Amaya's Mom]

Usually dogs that visit local nursing homes are trained therapy dogs. This involves a lot of obedience training and passing tests for therapy certification.

We are considering this for Amaya since agility doesn't seem to be her thing. A local trainer should be able to tell you more or check the internet for therapy dogs.

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Brutus & Amayas Mom
Brutus 9/23/99 Flashy Fawn
Amaya 3/22/00 Flashy Brindle

 

[Chad and Mav]

i was trying to find out more about this as well. i would LOVE to take him to elderly homes and kids who are in the hospital. been thinkin about it especially during the holidays cause not everyones as lucky as we are. i would also like to know more so ill be checkin this topic out as well as the net for info. ill keep you posted with any info i get. take care.

Chad and Mav

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Here are some sites which have information on therapy and service dogs and what it takes.

I too would love for Maggie to be able to do this. I'm hoping after we've been through the "terrible teens" with Maggie and she's better trained, we can see about getting her certified.

Good luck.
http://www.tdi-dog.org/
http://www.assistance-dogs-intl.org/

Here is a site with a list of service dog organizations which also may be of help.
http://www.golden-retriever.com/therapy.html



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Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae, Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn (Red), docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://maggie.artshost.com

 

[malinda]

I wasn't on the understanding that the dog needed to be trained for "a therapy dog". The web site just asks for volunteers to bring their dogs into a nursing home for an hour or so a month.

I did call the human society but haven't heard back from them and figured after the new year I would leave another message. The lady I did get an email from said nothing about the dog having to be trained in any special way.

Megan is getting pretty good with the basics so I don't foresee a problem in that area. Unless she needs to have a special type of training.

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Mom of Megan-flashy, female, fawn boxer. Natural ears and docked tail. Born 5/23/00.
<A HREF="http://people.ne.mediaone.net/younme/megan.htm" TARGET=_blank> http://people.ne.mediaone.net/younme/megan.htm </A>

 

[kitten]

I think the class is called "canine good citizen" at least thats what they require in my county to do visits.

I want to get aramis in to doing visits I was thinking of putting him in a class after the new year. but I still have to talk to the hubby about it.

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mom of....
D'artagnan: semi-flashy fawn male croped and docked 12/4/99
Aramis: flashy brindal docked, we are leaveing him with natural ears! 7/8/00

 

[Kim Y]

I have been contemplating this for the future with Oscar also. We start obedience in a couple of weeks. My hubby's dad has quite advanced Parkinson's and a bit of dementia. When we visit with Oscar, his tremors/shaking stops and he and Oscar sit peacefully and visit. I'm apprehensive lately with Oscar being so energetic, but he seems to sense a need to lie quietly with grandpa. Grandpa looks forward to Oscar's visits and if he hasn't seen him in a few days, I'll hear about it.

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Kim
****
Mommy to Oscar 09/19/00, flashy bouncin' brindle bundle of joy boy, docked tail and ears a la natural
Buster the cat
Teela, 06/05/85-10/15/97 Golden Retriever, waiting for mama at the bridge

 

[Tina-SCBR-NY]

I do this currently with my boxer girl, Missy. She just turned 1 in August. She loves going and it such a great feeling to see the smiles come across the peoples faces when you come in. They really look forward to our visit.
You do not need a lot of obedience. You will need in time to take a Canine Good Citizen test which is very basic. The dog must know sit, and down. He also must walk on a leash and be able to get along with other dogs. The test is not hard at all.
I highly suggest it to anyone intersted in this cause.
We also took the Therapy dog international test the same night. Not much more than the CGC test. The dog must allow a stranger to hug him/her and allow a wheel chair to approach it.
Dan you really don't have to wait for Maggie to calm down. Missy is very active and goofy but is very well behaved when in the homes. The dogs all seem to know what they are there for.
If anyone has any questions feel free to email me at jfancher@frontiernet.net .


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Proud momma of 3 boxer babies and 1 foster:
Dallas, F, Brindle 3/21/95
Dakota, M, Fawn 7/10/99
Missy, F, Brindle 8/7/99
And 1 Second Chance Foster dog
www.secondchanceboxer.com
American Boxer Rescue Association Affiliate
http://hometown.aol.com/scbrboxers/myhomepage/pet.html

 

[MajorMom]

This is an interest of mine also. What I have found out from around here is that, like Tina was saying, you do not have to have your dog highly trained when going to homes and places like that, but I have found that if you want to take them to the hospital or physical therapy clinic to see patients, they are a little more careful. Our hospitals here require that your dog be certified, and most have been trained professionally by Delta Society (www.deltasociety.org). They are also tested every six months and work on their training frequently.
I really want to work for Delta Society because I think it would be a great job. I would love to train dogs for an excellent cause. I think its the best of both worlds. But I won't try that until I graduate college.

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**Janet**
Major-4/10/00, red fawn male, black mask, white bib, white paws, natural ears, docked, STINKER! http://photos.yahoo.com/janet15851

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Janet & Tina,

Thanks for the link and the information. I was told once that it took a lot of training and was difficult to be certified. I'm glad to see that it isn't that hard and we might be able to get Maggie involved. I think she'd be able to pass CGC cert. by now.

I'll check out the Delta Society site further after we get Maggie to the Vet today.

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Dan from Brooklyn
Proud Pappa to Maggie Mae, Born 6/16/00
Flashy Fawn (Red), docked tail, natural ears.
Pictures: http://maggie.artshost.com