At Work

Today’s reader, a first grader, had prepared FOUR books to read to Tucker.  She told us that she loves to read and usually reads to her stuffed animals at home.  Reading to a real dog was so exciting!

The average reading time per reader is 20 minutes.  The Reading-to-Dogs Program runs for one hour every Thursday afternoon from 2:00-3:00 at the Westhampton Public Library.  The 20-minute reading slots allow three individual readers to have special reading time with Tucker.  Today, however, our eager first grader was the only reader signed up, so she was able to read all four of her books which she had practiced ahead of time at home .

When all the stories were finished, reader and dog had a chance to just hang out together.  Very special for both…  and for us!  Turns out, today’s reader loves dogs and told us about the different kinds of dogs she’s seen.  Someday, she said, she’d like to have a dog of her own.  In the meantime, she gets to spend time with her Reading Buddy.  When she was leaving the library with her mom, they stopped at the circulation desk to sign-up for another time to read to Tucker while space was still available.

Violet heads to Canine Good Citizen Class

Violet is a star… well, I may be just a little prejudiced!  I also think she’s the cutest Australian Labradoodle alive … BUT, she was used twice as the model in class to demonstrate a new command being taught.  She is SO EASY TO TRAIN…  Teach the skill once, practice once or twice, and she’s got it!  And, she LOVES to train.  That’s nothing new to me, tough…  all my dogs love training time…  the one-on-one time with me.  I really get a kick out of taking my dogs to class.  They literally beam when I say, Going to CLASS.  Let’s go! 

Last night’s class involved great heeling exercises…. plenty of:  Heel, About Turn, Heel, Circle Left, Heel, Halt, Heel, Halt, and Release…  The drills were extremely helpful in reinforcing these commands.  We reviewed the homework with drills in:  Long Sit, Long Down, and Sit for Examination.  The Stand command was introduced and practiced, as well as Sit, Stay, Come from a distance.

Violet had lots of FUN, lots of TREATS, and has made lots of NEW FRIENDS.  She’s going to make a TERRIFIC Therapy Dog!

practicing the Long Sit

In this heat, it’s a challenge to practice with the dogs as much as I usually do on a daily basis.  Training two young dogs simultaneously for therapy dog work requires constant training throughout the day.  I work in 5-10 minute time slots, several times a day.  During each time period I’ll focus on one or two particular commands.  Right now, doing any of this outside in the heat wave we’re having is impossible – and certainly not good for the dogs.  After the early morning training walk, everything else is done inside.

Lily usually goes to the library on Mondays, but since Violet is enrolled in the Canine Good Citizen Class right now, I decided to take her over to practice her Week One homework.  As I’ve mentioned on several occasions, I love the stacks for practicing the Heel command.  We go up and down the rows, do About Turns, and Halts.  Walking close to the stacks trains the dog to Heel right next to your side.  Along with the Heel command, we were assigned the Long Sit and Long Down – each for one minute.  I placed Violet at one end of the aisle and stood at the other end, timing the one minute.

The library is perfect for practicing the Polite Greeting – this week’s final assignment.  Several people were interested in meeting Violet, so I explained that she is in training for her Canine Good Citizen Test and asked them to approach me, shake my hand, then bend down and pet Violet on the head, down her back all the way to her tail while she remained in the Sit position.  Violet received plenty of practice today from people wanting to pet her.

Violet makes a new friend

Once our formal practice had concluded, Violet and I went over to the Children’s Area to relax and hang out awhile on the colorful rug in the corner.  Within a few minutes, Violet was joined by a young friend who sat down on the rug to play with her.  A great reward for Violet!  At 9 months, this pup is well on her way to being a terrific therapy dog.

Violet practicing the LONG DOWN covered in last night’s class

The American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Program (CGC) was started in 1989 for the purpose of  teaching responsible dog ownership to owners and providing basic training and good manners to dogs.  For people who are thinking of doing therapy dog work, a CGC Class is a great place to start.  The AKC rewards all dogs who pass the CGC Test with a certificate from the American Kennel Club.

The CGC Class will cover all skills and commands which make up the 10-item CGC Test.  Items in the test are:  1) Accept a Friendly Stranger, 2) Sit Politely for Petting, 3) Appearance and Grooming, 4) Walking on a Loose Leash, 5) Walk Through a Crowd 6), Sit and Down on Command/Staying in Place 7), Come When Called, 8) Reaction to Another Dog, 9) Reactions to Distractions and 10) Supervised Separation.

Besides being a friendly, outgoing dog that feels at ease meeting new people and going into strange places, it is imperative that a Therapy Dog be able to perform all the commands that are covered in the CGC Class.  Those who have done extensive training with their dogs may be able to by-pass the class and go straight to signing up to take the test.  I did this with three of my therapy dogs and they did fine.  Violet is young and training is part of building our relationship.  She and I have fun going to class together.  It just depends on what level your dog is at and what’s best for you and your dog…  For more details about the AKC CGC Program, visit the American Kennel Club website.

Every time I take Lily over to our wonderful Westhampton Public Library to practice her therapy dog skills, I leave feeling so good.  I love seeing Lily so relaxed and happy.  This really is her place – where she feels at ease and comfortable.  She eats up the undivided attention she gets in this quiet environment.  It’s so good for her to get away from the rest of the gang… all four dogs vying for attention.  I’m trying to get her there at least twice a week.  I’d take her every day, if time permit.

This visit, she went right over to the Children’s Corner and lay down on the colorful rug in a completely relaxed down.  A very good sign.  This is what I like to see a dog do.  They often lie in the sphinx position when feeling uncertain about the situation – following the directive to go down, but ready to get up quickly, if necessary.  Not anymore, Lily is a happy girl being in the library.  We always meet a bunch of people there who are more than willing to pet her and talk to her…  all part of socializing a good therapy dog.  Lily’s having a BLAST!

James made a visit to camp…  For the next two weeks, Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society will hold Animal Adventures Camp at their Springfield, MA, facility on Union Street.  During each camp session, children, ages 6-8 this week and ages 9-12 next, will have the opportunity to spend time with friendly animals at the adoption center.  They will learn about pet care, animal welfare issues, and animal sheltering.  They’ll  have fun creating dog and cat toys and listen to speakers invited in to talk about animal related subjects.

Today, the 6-8 age group of about 20 children got to meet James and learn all about the job of a therapy dog.  We talked about the differences between therapy dogs and assistance dogs and the training these dogs must go through to learn their job.  As with most children this age, they had lots of questions to ask.  While James mingled, doing his friendly meet-and-greet routine, I addressed the sea of raised hands in front of me.  As always, James was a happy boy, enjoying the attention of the young children as they pet and hugged him.  Dakin Animal Adventures Camp is a FUN place to be!

The Bright Spot Therapy Dog Team of Ern Damon and his Great Dane Tucker were a big hit today at the Westhampton Public Library as they kicked off the Summer Reading-to-Dogs Program which will run every Thursday from 2:00-3:00 through mid-August in the Children’s Area of the library.

Children interested in reading one-on-one to Tucker should sign up at the circulation desk for a 20-minute reading time.  There are three, 20-minute slots available each week.

The Program is designed to encourage reading-for-fun and a love-of-reading in a relaxed atmosphere.  The therapy dog provides a gentle, non-threatening buddy that listens patiently as the child reads aloud.  It’s beneficial for all students to read aloud to practice their fluency and further strengthen their confidence in reading. The Reading-to-Dogs Program is a fun and unique way to do this.

Children prepare ahead for their reading time with Tucker by taking the following steps:  1) Select a book they’d enjoy reading.  2) Practice reading it at home.  3) Come to the library at their assigned reading time.  Tucker will be waiting on a cozy blanket in the Children’s Area – all stretched out and ready for a good story.  He’s a really good listener.   As you can see from the photo at the top, he really enjoys listening to Dr. Seuss!  Reading-to-Dogs is LOTS OF FUN!!!

for the love of Bea many lives were changed forever

Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, Inc...  In 2004, I started this organization with just me and a dog – and look what’s happened!  

Now I know anything is possible…

By 2004, I had been visiting with therapy dogs for 12 years.  It was the love of Bea, my first therapy dog, that started it all.  In 1992, Beatrice and I made our initial visit together to a psychiatric unit where I witnessed the first of many magical miracles to follow in the years ahead.  The human-canine bond is so powerful that a woman who hadn’t spoken in 20 years sat quietly in a corner of the room – away from other patients in the lounge  – softly talking to Bea, the sweet, gentle, non-threatening English Setter with whom I visited folks in a local assisted living facility every Friday afternoon for 9 years.  This visit had such a profound impact on me that I simply could not turn away from something that had such a meaningful effect on the well being of those in need.

Dogs have always been a comfort to me throughout my life.  I remember every dog I’ve had…  starting with our Dalmatian Duchess my parents got when I was three years old.  I was a shy kid.  I loved hanging out with my dog… easier to do then interacting with people.  I remember my mother taking me to my first dog training class at the age of 10.  She had a fight with the instructor who wasn’t pleased having a child in class.  This is her dog, she told him.  She is the one who needs to learn how to train him, she insisted.  And, she prevailed.  I have been training dogs ever since.  I learned a great deal from my mother about loving and caring for animals.  Having an animal means taking on the responsibility of caring for the animal, she instructed.  It is she that turned me into a life-long lover of dogs.

It only seems natural that I’ve end up making my life’s work about dogs…  By 2004, I was compelled to found a therapy dog organization that had more of a function then simply testing and certifying dogs.  People involved with this work needed more then what they were getting from most therapy dog organizations.  There needed to be something more thorough in the evaluation process I felt – then, a follow through to working with healthcare and educational facilities that wanted visiting therapy dogs.  Training, instruction, and guidance were needed for both the therapy dog team and the facilities running a therapy dog program.

At this time, I was working as an associate director of development at a private school.  I had been at this work for 8 years.  The hours were long…  in fact, the work day had no end – the work simply was never done – and I was expected to get it done.  And, there were the night and weekend events.  I found myself with less and less time to spend with my dogs and visiting folks who enjoyed their companionship.  I proposed a change in my work schedule – a 4 day work week, with the option to work some of my 40 (plus!!!) hours from home (a trend gaining in popularity – certainly something not unheard of).  This change, I stated, would enable me to spend time visiting with my therapy dogs.  My proposal was flatly denied.  Ironically, the school thought my work with therapy dogs was wonderful.

I hated the job I had… seriously.  I was well-payed and hating it.  I was 57 years old and I knew I couldn’t see myself doing that job forever.  I had to do what I loved doing and do it  for a long as I could.  And, doing what I love meant sharing my dogs with others.  What can be more fulfilling than making people feel happy.  I made my decision.  I was leaving.  I gave my notice – stating that I was leaving because my proposal was turned down.  I can still remember the look of shock and disbelief on my boss’s face.  She seemed to be saying, But, but…  you don’t mean that.  Nobody just leaves a job…  not a well-paying one like yours.  Besides, WE NEED YOU.  Too bad I thought to myself.  I can’t be stuck in this unfulfilling job any longer.

The next day, work began on establishing a non-profit therapy dog organization.  Oh, how naive I was!  I had no idea what this entailed…  In the days and months that followed, there were many times when I wondered, in panic, what I had gotten myself into.  I found out there are all kinds of insurance issues when doing things with dogs.  Insurance companies view all dogs as potentially hazardous and vicious.  Insurance was a huge obstacle.  But, I dug in, found people who could help and advice – always pro bono.  I have found that people are very helpful when you’re working to help others in need.  And, DOGS…..  people across all socio-economic strata love and relate to dogs.  Just me and one dog quickly turned into 15, 20, 25, 30.  And, with the help of dedicated people – both volunteers and donors – all who believe in the meaningful work our Bright Spot Therapy Dogs do each day, we have grown close to 100 certified therapy dog teams, have expanded to all parts of New England, and are recognized by the American Kennel Club as an organization whose dogs are eligible to earn the AKC title of Therapy Dog (THD).

Over the past 20 years, 5 of my dogs have been therapy dogs, and together we have made over 30,000 visits to nursing homes, psychiatric facilities, Alzheimer’s Units, hospitals, hospice, and schools.  I have never left a facility without feeling that my dog has made at least one person feel happier, less lonely, and comforted.  How could I not love what I do!  I’m with my dogs – and I see them making other people feel good!

 Today I received the call I had expected to get for the past several weeks.  The call telling me that our hospice patient had died.  Although these calls are to be expected, I usually feel a sense of sadness upon receiving this news.  But this time – this call came with a feeling of relief – relief for our patient who is now free of the pain that had, over the past two months, become unbearable for her.

When I received a similar call after our first hospice patient died, I wept.  Actually, I sobbed into the phone as the director of Hospice Life Care Services delivered the message to me.  I surprised myself at this reaction.  I had been visiting elders in assisted living facilities with my therapy dogs for the past twenty years.  They were all there to end their days…  One at a time, I’d learn that Ernestine had died over the weekend, or Collette had been taken to the hospital and didn’t make it back.  I had attended some of their funerals – even bringing my therapy dog they had enjoyed so much with me to the service.  But, this was different – somehow.  I shocked myself, truly, at my response.

I had received the hospice training.  Yes, I knew that I was bringing my therapy dog James in to help ease the patient’s pain in their final stage of life.  But my reaction made me question whether I was cutout for such work.

Our hospice patient, Caren, changed all that…

She had no family or friends.  Caren was all-alone.  Through the weeks and months we visited, she talked to James about sad happenings in her life – her strained relationship with her parents who were now dead, her failed marriage. She told him things she wished she had done differently when she was young.  Her words were always spoken directly to the dog.

In the beginning, she was seated in her wheelchair where James sat by her side each week, his head resting in her lap.  But, when the pain became unbearable, she lay in bed with James lying by her side… his head gently resting on her chest so she could stroke is head.

On our last visit, she was unable to move – so I placed her hand on James’ head so she could feel his soft fur as he lay by her side.  When we were getting ready to leave, somehow…  she mustered the strength to move her arm.  She grabbed my hand in hers and looking up at me, with great difficulty she uttered, “Thank you… Thank you for bringing James to visit me… I really mean it.”

School librarian Karen Rousseau and I met this morning at the Westhampton Elementary School to plan our Bright Spot Reading-to-Dogs Program which will take place during the school day next year.

We decided to involve two therapy dog teams that will work with grades one through four.  The Program will be conducted during the students’ regularly scheduled time in the school library each week.  As done with the pilot after-school-program, each child will have a twenty-minute reading time one-on-one with the reading dog.  Part of the learning process will involve having the child select a book ahead of time and practice reading it in preparation for his/her reading time with the dog.  The dog will provide the patient, listening ear as the child reads aloud to him, developing confidence and fluency.

Karen and I foresee lots of possibilities with this…  perhaps the students might write and create their own book to read to the dog…  the possiblities are endless and things will develop as we launch the program and watch it develop.  We’re both very excited about working together on this special program in an effort to promote a love of reading.