Q & A: Rachel McPherson of The Good Dog Foundation

PawNation

What is the Good Dog Foundation, and how is it making its mark on the field of animal-assisted therapy?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

The Good Dog Foundation is beginning its 15th year as a charitable organization dedicated to elevating the stature and promoting society’s understanding of the therapeutic value of the human-animal bond.  This is accomplished through the use of professionally trained volunteer therapy dog teams who work to aid the healing process in humans and enhance clients’ quality of life.

Good Dog provides therapy dog services to people in health care, social service, educational and community facilities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and at disaster sites around the country.  Our highly trained and fully certified volunteer teams each consist of a human handler and therapy dog.

Our ultimate goal is to increase the awareness and prevalence of fully-certified therapy teams in a wide variety of facilities across the country. This is achieved through three core activities: training and certification, visit coordination, and research and awareness.

PawNation

What makes Good Dog different from other animal-assisted therapy organizations?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

Good Dog is the only organization in New York City that offers true therapy team certi?cations, meaning that Good Dog has fully participated in the training of each handler and animal to a specific, high standard. Whereas our therapy dog?handler teams undergo up to eleven weeks (and a minimum of ?ve weeks) of Good Dog’s one?of?a?kind training program with highly-skilled trainers, registration organizations require just a one?time screening to maintain minimum requirements.

It is our philosophy that a one?time evaluation or registration cannot grant a true certi?cation status and is not in the best interest of the patients and clients served by Good Dog. We are invested in our handlers and therapy dogs. By certifying our teams, we can ensure the best animal?assisted therapy services are being provided to those who need them most.

PawNation

Who does the Good Dogs Foundation help?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

As the largest certifying animal-assisted therapy organization on the East Coast of the United States, Good Dog’s teams visit cancer patients, autistic children, first responders, disaster victims, wounded veterans, PTSD sufferers, and many others whose quality of life is greatly enhanced by the unconditional love only therapy dogs can provide. We focus on work in the four divisions of Education (including reading, anti-bullying and autism), Health Care and Wellness, Research and Awareness, and Disaster Response.

PawNation

What are the health benefits of animal-assisted therapy?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

There is extensive evidence that dogs improve the health and well-being of people. The proven benefits of therapy dogs include reduced anxiety, loneliness, stress and blood pressure; improved motor and communication skills and decreased disruptive behaviors in students on the autism spectrum; comfort to hospital and hospice patients as well as survivors of disasters; improved motor skills in stroke victims; decreased stress levels in Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder; and companionship to the elderly. 

PawNation

Do therapy teams ever make special visits outside of the regular facility visits?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

The past several months have reinforced what we already know – therapy dogs can make an incredible difference to all kinds of people in so many different settings from schools to hospitals to evacuation shelters. Our teams have worked with victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Hurricanes Katrina and Irene, and most recently Sandy and the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

As Hurricane Sandy devastated areas served by Good Dog, we found ourselves adapting to serve a greater number of people than ever before. Through our disaster response division, we began visiting firefighters and EMTs in Long Beach, homeless residents in the Rockaways, displaced families in Red Hook and Coney Island, and high-needs medical patients from Brighton Beach.  Good Dog teams have visited thousands of people, including first responders, who were directly affected by the storm.

In Newtown, CT, our teams continue to offer therapy services to help rescuers, students, teachers, staff and community members cope with the on-going effects following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As part of the recovery and healing process, the use of certified therapy dogs can help ease the pain and provide an important outlet for grief.

PawNation

What types of dogs are the best fits for therapy work?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

Good Dog welcomes friendly and social dogs of all breeds and backgrounds, aged four months and older. Typically, a dog that is a good candidate for therapy work will have a loving, mellow personality, be highly sociable with humans as well as dogs, and have a solid grasp of basic obedience skills and the capability of learning good manners.

We evaluate therapy work readiness based not only on the dog’s temperament and knowledge of commands, but also on the relationship between the dog and the owner/handler. Our teams must undergo extensive training in our one-of-a-kind classes once our professional trainers think they may have what it takes. Instead of a one-time evaluation, we assess teams over the entire course of the class so that we have a true understanding of the team and the dog’s temperament, abilities and strengths. 

PawNation

What would be a good first step for anyone who is interested in volunteering as a Good Dog therapy team with their dog?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

To become certified as a Good Dog team, the dog must first undergo a free, brief evaluation so that our trainer can make sure he/she is suitable for classes. To schedule a pre-screening, please visit thegooddogfoundation.org and complete a pre-screening form. After pre-screening, your team enrolls in classes. The therapy certification class consists of an eleven-session program split into two classes that meet once per week: Therapy I and Therapy II. Under certain circumstances, dogs may be able to go directly into Therapy II classes.

Using positive reinforcement only, our expert trainers work with dogs and handlers to operate successfully as an animal-assisted therapy team. A class participation fee covers all expenses involved in becoming a Good Dog team. After you and your dog are certified, our staff and trainers will assist you in coordinating visits to the more than 315 partner facilities we serve. You will be covered by insurance on all official Good Dog visits.

PawNation

How does the animal-assisted therapy experience benefit the volunteer team?

Good Dog Foundation

ANSWER:

Volunteers receive many benefits from serving on a therapy team, including the satisfaction of helping people in their communities heal, access to professional Good Dog trainers and staff who support them during class and coordinate their volunteer visits, and a deeper relationship with their well-trained dogs. Good Dog also offers enrichment opportunities for teams to connect and share their stories.

PawNation

Please tell us a story about one of your volunteers/facilities/visits.