Social Bridges & Pet Assisted Therapy Animals

I have been involved with pet assisted therapy work since 1998. While I began with one organization, Furry Friends Pet Assisted Therapy Services, I have added others including Hospice of the Valley and Hospice of Santa Cruz County. I find working with and training volunteers so rewarding; evaluating their pets for visits in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and libraries, to name a few. Creating classes, answering questions, and promoting the work done by the volunteers is my idea of career nirvana.

In 2005, my son was gifted with a beautiful, intuitive, empathetic, rough coat collie named Cooper. This dog was amazing. He watched out for my children, playing endless rounds of board games and dress up, and worked for me in the community helping children in schools learn about dog safety and helping children afraid of dogs to overcome their fears. Kids were his happy place and I was more than delighted to have him as my companion on many library and school visits. When he passed away suddenly in 2014, my family was devastated and I lost my partner. In my grief, I reached out to the wider, collie community and along came Desi, my current pet assisted therapy dog. Desi is a retired show dog who loves everyone...kids, elderly people, the garbage collector, and the mailman are all Desi's friends. While he doesn't enjoy working with me on aggressive dog cases like Cooper did, he WILL do it...as long as the treats are good;)

So many of the volunteers with Furry Friends have had more than one companion animal come through the program and also felt adrift as they searched for their next pet assisted therapy animal. Life does move on after the loss of a companion animal, but for those of us who work alongside of our animals daily, the loss is felt not just by us, but by the patients and residents we visit doing pet assisted therapy.

If you are looking to volunteer in your community and you have an animal that loves people and new adventures, this may be the your calling as well. For more information on Furry Friends, visit their website at www.furryfriends.org.