The St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program is a recognized leader in animal assisted therapy.
The temperament and behaviour of a therapy dog is paramount for their acceptance into the St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog program. There is an extensive evaluation where dogs are exposed to various environments, noises and distractions, ensuring that only dogs with the right attitude are selected. Dogs who don’t pass evaluations can always work on their behaviours and try again later. If a dog demonstrates that it has the right temperament and disposition to be a therapy dog, but has difficulty with some aspect of the evaluation, the handler can work on that and the dog can be re-evaluated at a future date. However, if any sign of aggression is noted, that dog is not eligible for re-evaluation.
Jill Biggs has been working with therapy dogs for years, noting that any breed can make a great therapy dog — purebreed, mixed breeds, and rescues.
“At this time in Northwestern Ontario we have about 45 certified therapy dog teams,” she says. "But we are always looking for more."
Biggs receives a lot of positive feedback from their recent hospital excursions, incorporating staff along with patient visits.
“Now there are specific visits just for staff, where a dog will go to one of the units or to the nursing station and just visit the staff.”
All of the local long-term care homes and many retirement homes have arrangements for visits from the curative canines. Some high schools have specific days where the SJA Therapy Dogs are invited to attend. The police stations and the Justice Ronald Lester Youth Centre are visited weekly. The therapy dogs always have booth at comic convention ‘Thunder Con’ mingling with the cosplayers and accepting head pats.
Large manufacturing facilities will request a therapy dog visit for a wellness day too.
“Anytime somebody sends requests, I send an email out to everybody and see who’s available and who can go, and hopefully we can get more dogs out that way,” she says.
The dogs makes regular visits to Lakehead University, both libraries, the Student Wellness Centre and International Student Centre.
There is a program with elementary children, the 'Paws for Stories’ program. In this program, children who may be reluctant to read stories to an adult, happily read to the dog as a dog is non-judgemental. Dogs in this program must already have been through 40 adults visits and successfully completed a separate evaluation geared towards working with children 12 and under to qualify for engaging with young people.
Therapy dogs are easily identified by their St. John’s bandana and their human partner has a St.John Ambulance shirt with visible ID. Generally visits last about an hour.
The human volunteers who accompany the therapy dogs are the unsung heroes of this program. Marian Szelekovszky brings her charming Shetland Sheepdogs, to Hogarth Riveriew Manor twice a week for an hour long visits with patients and staff.
Szelekovszky explains Haylee passed her evaluations in April. Hogarth is her favourite place to visit and she leads the way towards the transitional unit. On other days they visit Birch and Spruce units. Haylee is stopped often and graciously waits while visitors pet her, compliment her and reminisce about their own dogs.
Szelekovszky knows most of the patients and employees by name. Rooms who wish to receive dog therapy visits are flagged by a small card with a paw print and heart. Haylee saunters happily from room to room, making her self comfortable on people’s beds, with their permission, and keeping them company while Szelekovszky chats about Haylee’s breed and her three siblings who are also Shelties.
Szelekovszky says just making people smile makes it all worth the time and effort for her. Generally the one hour visits become 90 minutes as Haylee is always being stopped and just exiting the building can take half an hour.
“I also have a second therapy dog, Enya, who, at 13 years, continues to love her ‘job’. She gets totally excited when she sees the bandana and my shirt.” When she’s not volunteering her time with Haylee and Enya, Szelekovszky is participating in various events like North Shore Dog Club shows held at Chippewa Park.
If you think you and your dog would make a great therapy dog team or you’d like to request the service of a therapy dog go to the St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog Program online.
