I am often asked if a rescue dog can become a therapy dog. My answer is: Absolutely! At Bright Spot, many of our terrific therapy dogs are rescue dogs. Any dog – pure breed, mixed breed, or rescue – that has a friendly, outgoing personality, that is at ease meeting strangers and going into new places, and that is well-trained, may qualify to do the important work of a therapy dog.
A rescue dog often comes with a story. I’d like to share the amazing story of one of our special Bright Spot Therapy Dogs. This is Frosty’s story as told to me by his forever companion Shannon:
At 4 months of age, Frosty and his sister Jingle Bells were picked up wandering the streets of a Louisiana town. They were taken to a high-kill shelter. Jingle Bells was lucky. She was adopted right away. Frosty was not. This shelter closes its doors each Tuesday to euthanize 10-30 dogs to make room for more dogs coming in. On the day Frosty was scheduled to be euthanized, on a whim, a woman who fosters dogs to be sent north for adoption, stopped by on her lunch break. She saved Frosty’s life by bringing him home that day. After fostering him for 6 weeks, Frosty was then listed with a Connecticut-based rescue. Shannon found Frosty on Petfinder. She watched a few videos on Frosty and couldn’t fill the paperwork out soon enough.
Shannon went on to say: Frosty may be the most thankful dog you’ve ever met. His eyes tell me that he understands his good fortune. After nearly two years of training and learning from our new dog, I knew Frosty had the kind spirit and gentle nature to be a wonderful therapy dog. So we started on this amazing journey together. For me, Frosty is a daily reminder of all the good, compassionate people in the world. I hope that through our work with Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, we are able to bring it all full circle.
I fell in love with Frosty the moment he and Shannon walked into one of my Therapy Dog Training Classes. He looked up at me with his sweet face and soft brown eyes, and I knew instantly that he would make a wonderful therapy dog. He and Shannon have trained long and hard together preparing to work as a Bright Spot Therapy Dog Team. They make regular visits at Elaine Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hadley, MA, and participate in the Paws-to-Read Program at Clapp Memorial Library in Belchertown, MA. We are proud to have this sweet, loving Rescue Dog-turned Therapy Dog as part of our organization.