Pets As Therapy
In August 2013, we rehomed a collie called Bess. She was 6 months old when we took her on and from the moment she took us on as her family I knew due to her remarkable temperament that she would make a wonderful Pets As Therapy Dog.
I started the whole application process with Bess in the December of 2013. I took her into the local high school where she became accustomed to the rooms she would be working in, the general noises that a school has and met a handful of pupils who read to her.
In February 2014 she was assessed by a lovely lady who has been working with the chairty for many years. With baited breath we awaited the decision. In April 2014 Bess became an official Pets As Therapy dog and has been going to school on a regular basis.
The children love reading to Bess, their own confidence in reading has improved and Bess loves attending the school and getting lots of cuddles and attention after she has been read to. It is hoped that in 2015 we will start visiting retirement homes.
"Pets As Therapy is a national charity founded in 1983. It is a community based charity providing therapeutic visits to hospitals, hospices, nursing and care homes, special needs schools and a variety of other establishments from volunteers with their pet dogs and cats.
Since its beginning over 28,000 dogs have become registered PAT dogs. Every year some of these wonderful dogs need to retire and new dogs, having first passed a health, temperament, and suitably assessment, join Pets As Therapy.
Today there are over 5,000 active PAT dogs & a smaller number of PAT cats working throughout the UK. Every week visiting PAT teams bring comfort and companionship to 1,000’s of people, both young and old, by giving them the opportunity to stroke, hold and talk to one of these calm and friendly dogs and cats.
Pets As Therapy also provide individual animal assisted therapy (AAT), working with stroke patients and people with dog phobias.
The Charity’s Read2Dogs programme helps children in classroom settings improve their reading ability by helping to increase their confidence and enjoyment of reading." Pets As Therapy. https://www.petsastherapy.org
