At Work

Students at Stonehill College will have the opportunity to meet Tucker up-front-and-personal – not just in photos – on campus this Friday, April 5, 2013.   This special Therapy Dog helps children improve their reading skills in his role as a Bright Spot Reading Buddy at Westhampton Elementary School and the Hilltown Charter School, both elementary schools in western Massachusetts.  Tucker and his Bright Spot teammate Ern Damon will travel to the college with Therapy Dog Violet and me to present a program on Bright Spot Therapy Dogs.  Tucker enjoys meeting people of all ages and going into new places.  This is the mark of a good Therapy Dog.

Bright Spot Therapy Dog Violet will be heading to Stonehill College on Friday, April 5, 2013.  She will accompany me as I speak to students about the meaningful work our Bright Spot Therapy Dog teams do in healthcare and educational facilities to help those in need.

Violet is a Bright Spot Reading Buddy.  We will be telling the students at Stonehill about our special children’s reading program designed to help readers on all levels develop their reading skills.  Bright Spot Reading Buddy Violet provides a listening ear as students in grade 2-3 classes at Hilltown Charter School in Haydenville, Massachusetts, read interesting stories to her one-at-a-time in a special corner of the room.  Violet loves her job and can’t wait to meet the students at Stonehill College and show them what a good Therapy Dog is like.

Several months ago, I was contacted by a student at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.  This student is one of the directors of a volunteer group on the campus called Into The Streets  – a group composed of people who want to go out into the world and make a positive difference by offering volunteer services to non-profit groups in the area.  She was contacting me about coming to campus to speak about Bright Spot Therapy Dogs and the work our therapy dogs do to help people in need.

I always welcome the opportunity to speak about the human and canine bond and the meaningful work performed by our dedicated volunteers through visits with therapy dogs .  But, in this case, I am most pleased to be addressing a group of students who are committed to community service.  I went to the Into The Streets web page and was amazed at the services these community-minded students perform.

This Friday, April 5, 2013, I will be making the 2-hour trip to Stonehill College, accompanied by my therapy dog Violet and one of our dedicated therapy dog teams, Ern Damon and Tucker.  Today, with over 120 Bright Spot Therapy Dogs serving facilities in western Massachusetts and beyond, we have much to tell. Perhaps a Stonehill student will be inspired to do some type of work with these amazing therapy dogs.

photo by Suzanne Goodwin

Today marked therapy dog Violet’s third visit to the Hilltown Charter School in Haydenville, Massachusetts.  She is a natural in this role that requires the Reading Buddy dog to either sit or lie down for long periods of time.  For Violet, this means 45 minutes in one grade 2-3 classroom and 45 minutes in another grade 2-3 classroom.  This can be pretty long for any dog, but Violet is a young therapy dog.  She’s just 18 months old.

By most standards, Violet is still a puppy.  But, Bright Spot Therapy Dog Violet proved herself to be advanced when she passed her evaluation for certification on her FIRST BIRTHDAY.  This was a great birthday present for a worthy little, well-trained dog with an engaging, outgoing personality.

photo by Suzanne Goodwin

Therapy dog Lily was excited to put her Bright Spot vest and ID badge on today – a sign it was time to head over to Westhampton Elementary School for Reading Buddies.  Last week, the Reading Buddies session was cancelled due to a snow day.  But, today’s clear weather meant Lily would be expected by the first and second graders who had been selected to read books to her this week.

Lily knows the drill so well.  We headed to the office to sign in, then crossed the lobby to the school library where an inviting sign is posted on the door.  Before she settled down to business, therapy dog Lily greeted each student who eagerly waited their chance to give her a hug.  Oh, how Lily loves interacting with the kids!  Today, she literally glowed with delight – her eyes twinkled, her tail wagged, her body wiggled, and she gave them all her doggie smile.

All greetings attended to, Lily headed right over to the special Reading Buddies Corner at the far end of the library.  She settled herself into a comfortable position and listened attentively to five readers (three first graders and two second graders).  Today’s reading selections were all about animals, wild animals, farm animals, and dogs.  Each child explained why he or she had chosen a particular book to read to Lily.  Always, Lily enjoys looking at the illustrations in the book as the reader holds the book in front of her to check them out.

The Reading Buddies Program is the perfect job for therapy dog Lily because she enjoys lying down in one place for long periods of time – and she loves children.  Other therapy dogs prefer a more active environment and their handlers choose a different type of location and population to visit.  The proper fit for the Therapy Dog Team is vital to having a successful and rewarding visiting experience.

I really enjoy training people and their dogs to become therapy dog teams.  I get to meet such terrific dogs and wonderful people who love their dogs dearly and want to share them with others.

Today’s class was lots of fun.  We had a very interactive group role-playing scenarios they would be up against when visiting in a facility.  We got to laughing pretty hard at some of the acting.  I added plenty of distractions – like freeze-dried liver for the dogs to practice the Leave It command (that liver is pretty hard to resist!).  This command is a must when visiting.  All kinds of things can be accidentally dropped on the floor and quickly consumed by an eager dog’s mouth.  Handlers must have a watchful eye at all times when visiting.

Clearly, the participants had practiced the skills taught in Part 1 of this workshop-style therapy dog training class and used those as the foundation for the more advanced techniques covered in class today.  How do you position your dog when visiting a patient in bed?  There are many ways to set the stage for maximum interaction between the dog and patient.  I was amazed at the ideas people came up with.  Every visiting situation is different and handlers need to act quickly and thoughtfully when presenting their dogs to patients.

Questions and concerns were addressed as we went along.  We discussed what the [dreaded] evaluation would be like and how best to prepare for the evaluation.  These dogs and handlers left well-prepared for this test – and for visiting in one (or more) of the 70+ facilities requesting the volunteer services of our Bright Spot Therapy Dog Teams.

Our next Therapy Dog Training course at True Blue Dog Training in Haydenville, Massachusetts, is scheduled to run April 14 & 28.  Available spots are filling quickly.  I can’t wait to meet our next group!

Our Bright Spot Reading Buddies Program at the Hilltown Charter School in Haydenville, Massachusetts, commenced today with a full slate of readers in the two K-1 classes and the two grade 2-3 classes.  Two weeks ago, Reading Buddies Lilo and Violet visited the classes so the boys and girls had a chance to meet their Reading Buddies and watch their teachers model reading a book to the dog.

Three assigned readers from each of the two grade 2-3 classes treated Reading Buddy Violet to a variety of stories:  scary mysteries, dog stories, funny stories about pigs, an Amelia Bedelia chapter book, and more.  Violet showed her excellent Reading Buddy manners by either lying down or sitting next to the reading and listening attentively.  Each classroom has a cozy spot set up, away from the rest of the classroom activity, where each reader has one-on-one time with the dog.

Today’s readers came to their sessions well prepared.  It was obvious that each of them had practiced reading their chosen books ahead of time to be ready for their special time with the dog.  One girl said she chose two dog books to read to Violet.  She thought Violet would like to listen to stories about dogs – and she even thought the dogs in the stories looked a bit like Violet.  One boy was reading a mystical fantasy, a long chapter book.  He loved the book so much, he was reading it for a second time.  He thought Violet would enjoy listening to one of the chapters.  She did, indeed, seem very interested!

We met up with the other Reading Buddies team of Lilo and Ern Damon after our sessions had concluded.  Ern said that Lilo, too, had a great time listening to the K-1 children read their stories.  Lots of FUN for all.  Can’t wait for more stories next week!

Reading Buddy Lily listens to first grader read.

What better way to spent a dreary, rainy day than to go to the Westhampton Elementary School in Westhampton, Massachusetts, and listen to lots of stories being read by first and second grade readers?  That’s how Bright Spot Reading Buddy Lily felt today as she put on her official Bright Spot Therapy Dogs blue vest and ID badge and headed over to the school to listen to 4 first graders and 3 second graders read her some very interesting stories about cats, flycatchers, and dogs.  Cats were big today, with three books read about cats.  Lily liked the book about the lost mitten, too.

The special Reading Buddy Corner in the school library

 When the school day was about to end, I don’t think Lily wanted to leave the cozy reading corner set up especially for the Bright Spot Reading Buddies Program.  She seemed to want to stay put on the soft, comfortable blanket and listen to more, and more.  Even though it was time to line up at the sound of the bell, our last reader wanted to keep on reading so Lily would hear the end of the story.  So much fun for reader – and canine listener!  ‘Til next Tuesday…

Pre-Kindergartners greet Lilo when she arrives for reading time.

I am preparing a talk for Stonehill College on April 5, 2013.  Along with my oral presentation on the Bond Between People and Dogs as Seen Through Visits with Therapy Dogs, I am preparing a slideshow and display showcasing photos our volunteer Therapy Dogs in action.

Pre-K teacher Sarah gets a special hug from Lilo before the reading begins.

Today, I went to the Westhampton Elementary School to observe therapy dog Lilo, one of  volunteer Ern Damon’s gentle Great Danes, in her role as a Bright Spot Reading Buddy for third graders and pre-kindergarteners.  It was fun to be behind the camera lens, observing the reading program in action, as opposed to being a volunteer participant with one of my two therapy dogs – Lily, an English Setter, and Violet, an Australian Labradoodle – who are Bright Spot Reading Buddies with WES first and second graders on Tuesdays and fourth and fifth graders on Thursdays.

Pre-K child reads to Lilo

In addition, Lilo (also Ern’s therapy dog Tucker), Lily and Violet, are Reading Buddies at our newly established Bright Spot Reading Buddies Program at the Hilltown Charter School in Haydenville, MA.  I hope to get over to Hilltown, as well, to snap some photos of our wonderful Bright Spot Therapy Dogs listening to the young readers (grades K-1 and 2-3) read their books to the dogs.

Third grader pets Lilo after reading his book.

Through the years, I have managed to take some wonderful photos of our therapy dogs visiting in healthcare facilities.  These photos – actually all photos – are not easy to come by.  Every photo we use for Bright Spot Therapy Dogs (and for my blog Say Hello Spot) needs to have our official photo release form signed, allowing our use of the photo. For the most part, this is not a problem at all.  Most folks love having their photo in our therapy dog publications and on our website.  Photos are so important.  Photos showing the meaningful work of our therapy dogs are worth a thousand words!

Our Northampton Area Bright Spot Therapy Dog Training Class for the month of March started today with a two-hour session.  The workshop-style course is taught in two parts and his held at the True Blue Dog Training facility on Rte. 9 in Haydenville, Massachusetts.  The course is designed to teach people and their dogs the skills and techniques they need to know to make therapy dog visits in a healthcare facility or educational program.

Oscar practices interacting with a row of patients

Five teams are participating in our March course.  They are off to a terrific start.  The Basics were covered in today’s class.  We use an interactive format where some participants role play the part of the patients while others work on developing the skill by performing it for the patient (i.e. positioning the dog next to the wheelchair so the patient can easily pet the dog, asking permission to move a patient’s walker so the dog can come in close to visit).  Plenty of time is given for questions and answers.  Participants leave with a hand-out covering the skills and techniques taught in class and homework is assigned with two weeks given to practice, practice, practice until part two of our workshop series is held on March 24th.

Mya approaches a patient with a walker.

If interested in training to become a Bright Spot Therapy Dog, visit our website for details about the classes offered, and dates and times they are held.  The website also takes you through the steps necessary to become certified through Bright Spot and the costs involved with training, evaluation, and certification.  Once on our website, click on THERAPY DOG TRAINING and CERTIFY YOUR DOG.