At Work

Delhi and teammate Kathy in their Reading Buddy Meet-and-Greet training session

Our highly successful Bright Spot Reading Buddy Program continues to grow throughout Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties of western Massachusetts.  First piloted at the Westhampton Elementary School in 2012 with a goal of fostering a love for reading, today we have seven Reading Buddy Teams working with children in six different elementary schools.

Casey and teammate Ellen doing their one-on-one practice Reading Buddy session

Each team receives our one-on-one Reading Buddy Training to prepare for their role.  Teams must already be certified through Bright Spot Therapy Dogs to be accepted into this special training program.  Training takes place right in a school setting, enabling our trainers to determine the teams ability to work in such an environment.  Not all therapy dogs or their teammates are suited for this type of therapy dog work.  Dogs must demonstrate that they are at ease interacting with children and are happy sitting or lying down for a 45-minute time period as they listen to possibly three different children read one-one-one to them in a special reading corner.  Some dogs prefer a more active form of visiting.  Some are more comfortable in an adult environment.  Through our 4-step Reading Buddy Training, the trainer and the team find out if this is a proper fit.  As always, finding the right environment for therapy dog visiting – both for the dog and the handler – is critical to having a successful and enjoyable time working in this field.

This is the best thing the school has ever done!  We kept hearing students make this comment over and over again as hundreds of them spent time petting and hugging the 17 Bright Spot Therapy Dogs in the Keefe Campus Center at Amherst College today.

We’ve heard the same thing said at UMass last spring, Smith College this past summer, and Bay Path College two weeks ago.  Students think these therapy dog events are great.  Often heard, as well, is the comment, I miss my dog so much.  I can’t wait to see him/her when I go home on break.

Students stopped by in waves, after class, during lunch, before class, on a study break.   A few students, finished for the day, sat down and stayed for several hours.  Since we were there over a 4-hour period (11:00-3:00), many students made return trips to hug the dogs some more.

Students were delighted to hear that Bright Spot Therapy Dogs will be returning to campus.  The student affairs office has already booked us for Finals Period.  Our return date is December 10th.

In the next few days, more photos of our therapy dogs at Amherst College will be posted on our Bright Spot Therapy Dogs facebook page.

Lily gets a shampoo, conditioner, and blow-dry

Therapy Dog Lily has a big day tomorrow.  She’ll be heading over to Amherst College for our Bright Spot Therapy Dog Stress-Relief Event on campus.  She will be joined by 16 other Bright Spot Therapy Dogs.  Each therapy dog will be decked out in his/her blue Bright Spot vest.  Their human teammates will be wearing matching blue shirts.  There will be no mistaking this bunch arriving on campus and heading for the Keefe Campus Center.

We’ll be bringing quite a variety of therapy dogs:  a Greyhound, a Bouvier, an Australian Labradoodle, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, an English Setter, a Standard Poodle, a Pug, a German Shepherd, a Chihuahua,  a Yellow Lab, two Great Danes, and four Golden Retrievers.  Students always enjoy seeing a lot of different breeds.

We’ll be at the Campus Center from 11:00-3:00 and looking forward to spending time with lots of students, faculty, and staff.  It’s a great way to take a break from studying for mid-term exams.  Stay tuned for lots of photos of the event.

Finley cuddles with a resident while Bonnie engages in conversation

Finley and Owen are full brothers from two different litters (same parents).  They are about ten months apart in age, and they have both lived with Bonnie and her family since they were each eight weeks old.

Two weeks ago, I gave Owen and Bonnie a private lesson right in the nursing home to test-drive their skills and techniques for visiting prior to having their therapy dog evaluation.  Owen was a natural, and what impressed me the most was Bonnie’s technique.  She was careful to position Owen close to the resident he was visiting.  Most residents were sitting in wheelchairs.  Bonnie would then kneel down next to Owen, making herself at eye-level with the resident.  Dog and handler positioned in this way promoted movement and conversation on the part of the resident.  That’s the goal of a therapy dog visit.  Bonnie and Owen, in sync with one another, did this over and over again with each resident.  It was little wonder that Owen was a Big Hit with everyone there.  FYI:  Owen and Bonnie had their evaluation that Friday and passed with high marks.  They are now a certified Bright Spot Therapy Dog Team!

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Finley came for his private lesson the following week.  Under Bonnie’s guidance, Finley reacted in much the same way Owen did.  Bonnie employed all the skills and techniques she had learned in our Bright Spot Therapy Dog Training Classes.  Finley, who looks like a cuddly brown bear cub, elicited giggles and smiles from all the residents he met.  Staff, too!  I’m certain the team of Finley and Bonnie will make out equally as well on their therapy dog evaluation as did the team of Owen and Bonnie.  Owen and Finley are lucky dogs to have a human companion who takes the time necessary to socialize and train them properly, not just to become therapy dogs, but to be well-adjusted and happy canine family members.

Folks stopping by our booth to learn about getting their dogs certified through Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, Inc.

This was our second year in a row attending the wonderful Greyhound Options Octoberfest held at Dufresne Park in Granby, MA.  Bright Spot loves meeting all the sweet, gentle Greyhounds and their friendly owners.

 Blue skies, sunshine, and 60 degree temperatures made the perfect autumn day for this annual event.  We enjoyed talking to folks about their Greyhounds and telling them about our certification process.  Most folks took our business card and a copy of our latest newsletter.  In between talking to folks and admiring their dogs, we watched the fun activities planned for the dogs and their people.  First up was bowling…  most dogs bypassed the pins or jumped over them – but had lots of fun doing it.  There was the look-alike contest, the softest fur contest, and most fun of all – the costume contest.  Greyhounds love to dress up.  The variety of get-ups was endless!

Bright Spot Max wearing his official therapy dog vest

Our Bright Spot members Wayne and Max came over to our Bright Spot booth to chat.  Max was modeling his blue Bright Spot therapy dog vest for other Greyhounds to see.  He looked mighty handsome!  Wayne told us some of the adventures he and Max have had over the past year visiting two eldercare facilities.  The team has plans to become a Bright Spot Reading Buddy Team and will soon begin their special Reading Buddy training.

Max modeling his fabulous “jester” cap

Later in the day, Max stopped by to show us his new jester hat made by one of the creative Greyhound Options members.  Wish I could get one to fit my English Setters’ heads.  They are adorable.  Somehow, I don’t picture my dogs placidly keeping the jester cap on the rest of the afternoon like Max did.

These dogs are so, so very gentle and sweet.  So quiet, too.  They love being around people.  Excellent qualities for therapy dog work.  We hope many of the folks and dogs we met today will decide to become certified through Bright Spot Therapy Dogs like their friend Max.

Hundreds of students at Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, gathered on the terrace next to the Blake Student Commons to spent time petting and hugging each Bright Spot Therapy Dog that attended the Stress-Relief Event held on the campus today.

Clouds held back the sun, but they didn’t prevent our gentle, friendly, comforting Bright Spot Therapy Dogs from providing a pleasant break from studies during the College’s mid-term exam period.  Twelve therapy dog teams in all filled the large terrace, dogs of all shapes and sizes.  All were trained and certified through Bright Spot Therapy Dogs.

The Therapy Dog Stress-Relief Event today at Bay Path College was the fourth such event we have held on college campuses this year, with four more events planned before the end of 2013.  Faculty and staff, as well as students, love having the therapy dogs on campus.  The dogs love being there – and our dedicated Bright Spot volunteers enjoy sharing their dogs  in this way.  A win-win all around!

Owen has been training to be a therapy dog since he was a young puppy.  For starters, he was a well-socialized puppy from the time he was born at Berkshire Hills Australian Labradoodles in Haydenville, MA.  At 8 weeks old, he went to his new home where his owner Bonnie started him right off with a puppy kindergarten class.  Then, she entered him in more advanced classes which led to him passing his Canine Good Citizen Test.

Owen and Bonnie just completed their Bright Spot therapy dog training class two weeks ago.  Since then, they have been practicing the skills and techniques they learned in this specialized class in preparation for their upcoming evaluation to earn Bright Spot certification.

Bonnie contacted me several days ago about having a private lesson to check on Owen’s readiness for his test.  Since I hold my lessons at an actual nursing home, people and their dogs are able to test-drive their visiting skills before the Big Test Day.  In doing so, both dog and handler develop confidence in knowing, firsthand, how they have done with real people, seeing and smelling the actual sights, sounds, and scents a therapy dog team encounters while visiting.

Owen and Bonnie demonstrated excellent skills and techniques as we spent one full hour visiting with folks in the large activity room, in the physical therapy room, some in their own rooms, and those seated around the nurses’ station.  Now, they are ready to go – and have the confidence to do extremely well on the evaluation.  They have put in the work involved:  months, two years – actually – to get to this stage.  I just received an email from Bonnie telling me their evaluation is scheduled for Friday.  I can’t wait to have this wonderful new team part of Bright Spot Therapy Dogs.

Bright Spot Therapy Dogs is a registered 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization run  on volunteer hard work and dedication to our mission of placing well trained, certified therapy dogs in programs that provide comfort and caring through the human-canine bond.

When I founded Bright Spot Therapy Dogs in 2004, it consisted of just one therapy dog team – me and my dog Trudi.  Now in its ninth year, Bright Spot has trained and certified over 175 therapy dog teams that visit throughout New England.  We got where we are today through the tireless efforts of an amazingly talented Board of Directors who offer their expertise and countless hours of their time to moving our well-respected therapy dog organization forward and blazing uncharted waters, as we grow in numbers and in new opportunities for offering comfort and companionship through the human-canine bond.

Today, Board members Patti Tibbetts and Ern Damon met at my home (aka Bright Spot Therapy Dogs headquarters) to assemble our annual appeal.  This ever-growing mailing is very important to our continued growth.  Through gifts from donors who believe in the meaningful work our therapy dogs do in the community, we are able to offer special programs like our Bright Spot Reading Buddy Program in elementary schools, our Stress-Relief Events on college campuses during exam time, and our therapy dog team training program to teach new volunteers the skills and techniques necessary to conduct successful visits.

With Patti’s and Ern’s help today, we were able to assemble our entire appeal and send it off in the mail.  What would have taken one person several days to complete was executed in a matter of 2 1/2 hours.  While working we brainstormed ways to better handle operations of the organization, talked through some issues to address during the Board’s Strategic Planning Meeting in December, and generally had a fun time enjoying each other’s company.

I am forever in awe of the wonderful people I have met while traveling this journey with my own seven therapy dogs.  Generous, caring people who love their dogs and want to share them with those in need.  People willing to step to the fore and donate their time as Board members, each delving in to a particular aspect of organizational operations.  Thank you, Patti and Ern, for your great efforts today – and everyday –  to make Bright Spot Therapy Dogs the best it can be.

If you would like to make a donation to Bright Spot Therapy Dogs to support our mission, go to our website and click on Make a Donation.  Your gift will go a long way in bringing comfort and caring to those who need it most.

 At one area elementary school last week…  Bright Spot Reading Buddy Lilly works with the sixth grade at Whatley Elementary School.  Lilly’s job is to listen as each student reads and edits his own written stories.  Lilly’s teammate John Lankarge has this to say, We love this method of listening to children read and edit their own work.  Both Lilly and I enjoy our Reading Buddy sessions.

 And at another area elementary school this week…  Bright Spot Reading Buddy Tucker listens intently as a Westhampton Elementary School third grader reads and explains to him all about minerals and gemstones.

King practicing his SIT/STAY command at home

King started his Bright Spot Therapy Dogs Training classes last week.  This sweet, gentleman-of-a-dog wants so much to please and do what is expected.  He’s a quick learner.  He’s got the SIT command down pat.  He HEELS beautifully, and STAYS in place.  We’re working on the DOWN.  A treat in my hand does the trick.  As I draw the treat to the floor and hold it there, he goes right DOWN.  Now, to do it without the treat!

I love taking King to class.  It is not required that veteran Bright Spot volunteers take the Therapy Dog Training classes.  I am doing them anyway, simply because I feel attending classes with my dog further strengthens the bond we have together.  King loved jumping in the car with me and heading off.  It’s our special – alone time – together.  After all, at home, King has to share my attention with his pals James, Annie, and Lily!

This coming week, King will be introduced to the equipment he will encounter when visiting a health care facility.  Wheelchairs and walkers will probably be new to him, but, as a retired show dog, he is used to meeting all kinds of new and unusual things.  In upcoming weeks, we will go to a nursing home to practice.  I can’t wait to see this gentle dog interact with the residents there.  He’s a natural!