Saturday, January 21, 2012

Another great day at the A.R.C!

Today we added another person to the group! Lin started out by telling stories again and everyone took turns brushing me. I think that everyone like to brush me because it makes me so happy. I visited with everyone and gave kisses while everyone worked as a group to put big puzzles together on a magnetic board. Everyone liked putting the puzzles together and asked that we play that game again. Today one gentleman wanted me to sit on his lap while he was in the recliner. I climbed up on his lap to his delight and lay there for a while. It made him so happy. Its too bad that there are not more big chairs so I could sit on everyone's lap. I think that the people in the group would like that. I love my friends at the A.R.C.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Day 3 of my internship

Today we added another person to my class. It is fun getting to know everyone!

As always, my companion, Lin, starts out by telling everyone a story about something that happened to me. I love hearing the story and remembering what happened. I think everyone in the class liked hearing about my adventures!

After the story, everyone took turns brushing my fur. They all were very gentle, with some clients getting some help brushing me because they need help controlling their arms movements. I love it when they brush and pet me! Today I hopped up in a chair to get closer to one of the people who is in a wheelchair. I really like him and needed to sit on something to make me higher so that he could reach me more easily. When I sat in the chair, he was able to brush my fur, like everyone else in the room. My friend, Joanne, who is the program director at the facility, told me that by brushing my fur, it was helping him to use his arms which was going to make his physical therapist very happy! She also told me that he doesn't smile very often, which I didn't believe because he smiles a lot when I am there.

Another person kept telling me how much she loves me! She gave me lots of kisses, and I kissed her too! Everyone in the class wants me to give them kisses. Most everyone wants me to kiss their cheek, although some only like me to kiss their hands. I do my best to remember who only wants their hands kissed, and Lin helps me remember. Another client invited me to her house for chicken dinner, but Lin had to tell her that I only eat dog food and carrots!

Every time I visit them, I do all of my favorite tricks and  then they give me carrot slices as my reward. I really love carrots! They are told to put the carrots in the palm of their hand and to keep their fingers together. Even though I am very excited to get my treats, I am also very gentle. We want them to be safe around all dogs, so that is why we teach them to hold the treat in the palm of their hand. Not all dogs are as gentle as I am and we don't want any accidents!

After everyone had a chance to brush me and I went around giving kisses and being petted, Lin read them a story she wrote and illustrated. Everyone had a chance to see each page up close and study the illustrations. Some people just looked at the illustrations, but some really studied them, taking a long time to look.

The time goes really fast and I am sad when it is time to go home. I really love putting on my Therapy dog vest and visiting with everyone. I really look forward to going back and seeing everyone again!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My internship has started!

Yesterday I met a group of 6 wonderful clients at a facility for people with mental and physical challenges. They loved petting me and took turns as I walked around the room visiting with everyone. My companion read a story about me to the group to help them to get to know me better. The book had lots of photos of me doing all of the things I love doing, except for the one where I was taking a bath. I'm not crazy about taking baths. I love to swim, but not in the bathtub! One lady told me how pretty I am and how much she loves me whenever it was her turn to pet me. When she saw my photos in the book, she pet my photo and said the same thing. Everyone gave me a treat! I sure love my doggie biscuits! Two of the people helped me to do my favorite tricks by giving me my treat afterwards!

This week I am only going to the center once, but the next few weeks, I will be going twice a week! Going there makes me very happy. I can't wait to see my new friends again!