I love when people read to me! Yesterday, was so cold in the morning I was worried that no one would come to read to me at the West Warwick, RI library. When I arrived there were lots of children waiting to read to me. They took turns reading lots of stories, snuggling to me and giving me lots of pats. Even some of the parents had fun petting me.

There were a couple children that wanted to be there, but were scared of me. I found out that they were scared of all dogs and not just me, which made me feel better.  My guardian brought a large stuffed animal she calls "little Sahara" for the ones that are scared of dogs to snuggle to instead of me. One little boy snuggled to little Sahara most of the time. A girl who was scared of me at the start pet me as I was leaving. That made me smile and wag my tail.

I look forward to having them read to me again on Saturday, May 20th at 10am.

Talking to New Students about Pet Assisted Therapy

I haven't been posting because my family has been monopolizing the computer! What is a dog supposed to do to get a little bit of online time? I finished my internship at the Cranston ARC, and am missing the many friends I made there, although when things settle down, I will go back and visit regularly.  Yesterday Jacqie, Lin and I visited the ARC, along with two other Pet Assisted Therapy teams to talk to Pearl Salotto's current Community College of Rhode Island Pet Assisted Therapy students. Jacqie and Lin talked about their internships and what they do during the time that they spend with the clients.

Lin told about how I wanted to get close to a client that is in a wheelchair and has limited mobility. I tried climbing on some bean bag chairs that happened to be next to him to get up to where he could reach me, but it didn't work because the beans in the bad made it like trying to walk up loose sand. I kept sliding!. Then they found a big armchair that they placed next to him. I climbed up on the roomy chair, sat down and leaned over to give him a big kiss on the cheek. The kiss startled him so after that I would just kiss the air around him or kiss his hand, which he liked. After the first few classes he smiled all the time when I was there! I made him happy!

Lin also told about the one client who sat on a big comfy recliner that I mentioned in a previous post. One day he looked really sad so I climbed up and sat on his lap! That made him very happy! After the first time, every class I would spend some time laying on his lap. I keep telling my family that I'm a lap dog, but even after that they still say that I'm just too big!

It was great seeing so many student interested in Pet Assisted Therapy!

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.

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!

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!

One of my internships

One of my internships will be at a facility for people with developmental and mental challenges. The program director, Joann is really nice and really loves the people she serves. While I was there finding out when I would be working, a fire alarm rang. I was escorted outside to the meeting area. The clients of the facility saw me and asked to pet me. They really liked me and I liked having them pet me. They told me that they wanted to see me when I came back to work there. It didn't matter if they were in wheelchairs and could barely reach me to pet me. I saw the smiles on their faces and it made me smile too.

I Passed my Final Competency Test!

Today I had my final competency test at an extended care facility. Since both my mom and grandma (or sister and mom depending on which one you talk to) were also being tested I got to go through that facility twice! There were so many really nice people that I got to see. Several of them asked me to give them kisses which I love to give! They really know how to pet a dog! I was so happy to be there. I loved seeing their faces light up when they saw me coming! It really makes me happy to visit them. One lady told me all about the dog who used to be her companion and how much she missed her. The test was to see how I behaved around the people at the facility and how treated them. The ladies that were testing me told me how well I did! They said that I was a natural!

Now on to the next step. Since both my sister/mom and my mom/grandma are doing internships, I get to do two internships! At the end of the internship, if I do well, I will become a certified therapy dog! I'm so excited!