Michelle's Guest Post: Raising a Therapy Dog

   Wow, writing a guest blog post is not something I ever thought I would be doing – I am beyond honored that Courtney has asked me to contribute, and hope to do my best to continue the conversation on the power of dogs in our lives!

   I have loved dogs my entire life, and my family always joked that I liked dogs more than people (which was mostly true at certain points in time).  In high school, I had the best little dog who was a mixture of poodle and dachshund.  He was so ugly he was cute, but he was smarter than any dog I’d ever seen and he loved me through some particularly trying times.  That little dog taught me a lot of lessons, including how much comfort can be had just from staring into the eyes of a dog that loves you unconditionally…

   Fast forward many (many!) years later, and I found myself searching for a meaningful way to give back to people.  After an encounter with a therapy dog team at a homeless outreach event, I felt like this could be the answer I’d been seeking – and it would allow me to comfort people with dogs the same way I’d found comfort during some very dark times.  I immediately started researching and exploring therapy dogs and the vast numbers of ways they were being utilized across the world.  I was captivated by the stories of therapy dog teams working in hospitals, care facilities, courtrooms, and reading programs.   I was also fortunate enough to meet a woman at my church that is an experienced therapy dog handler, who had recently begun a ministry that matched therapy dog teams with elderly members of the church who would benefit from visits.  She was instrumental in helping me learn what it takes to be an effective therapy dog handler, and she helped me get my miniature poodle Reese certified as a therapy dog with one of the largest credentialing organizations.   Reese & I quickly began volunteering with a hospice organization, as well as the church ministry team.  The joy of seeing a patient with advanced stage dementia absolutely come alive the minute the dog walked into the room is something that is beyond words –

   Unfortunately, after about a year of volunteering with Reese, I realized that my sweet little dog was not quite as passionate about visiting strangers as I was, so I made the decision to allow her certification to lapse and ended our visits.  That was a tough decision, but the most important rule in therapy dog work is listening to your dog and understanding their body language so that the dog is not put under stress by the work.  I was determined to one day get another dog that would be better suited to therapy dog work.  In the meantime, I also made the decision to return to college and get a degree that would allow me to work in a professional therapeutic setting with dogs.

   In 2015, I was beyond blessed to meet a woman who raises Labrador Retrievers – one of the most well-known breeds for therapy dog work – and our family soon welcomed the most beautiful Chocolate Labrador puppy thanks to her! Our sweet little girl, Keona Leia, which is Hawaiian for "God's gracious gift, child of heaven" came home to us in June and it has been a wild ride every single day since then –

Keona at 8 weeks old

 

Keona at 1 year old – hanging out with Mom at work and entertaining the office staff

   Although Keona doesn’t have a very important job like Zido quite yet, hopefully one day she can follow in her distant relative’s pawprints and make a difference like he does.  Until then, she has to be content with entertaining her family with her antics!

   Even before Keona came into my life, I have been learning and developing my passion for animals in therapy for quite some time now and I am deeply convinced that dogs can make the difference in people’s lives across an enormous spectrum – from the soldier who can finally venture outside again thanks to his service dog; the autistic child who first learns how to socialize by making eye contact with a dog; the child who can only testify in court against her abuser because of the trained comfort dog that sits at her feet in the witness box; or the person who has experienced an unbelievable tragedy but can find a small glimpse of normalcy when a trained therapy dog comes on the scene.  Each of these scenarios is being played out across the country, and across the world, every single day and I am thrilled to have even a small part in making a difference for people this way.  

Thanks everyone!

Michelle