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To be sure and receive Talk, add info@talkloudoun.com to your address book Vol 3: Issue 28, September 21, 2011

Made for each other

By Betsy Allen

"Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet."
- Colette

Certified dog handler Debbie Fox remembers an experience at a Loudoun elementary school that touched her deeply. Fox and her English Yellow Lab, Izzy, had been making regular canine therapy visits and working with two nonverbal autistic students. One day, she arrived and was approached by one of the school's speech therapists. "I don't think you know how much we love you coming here," the therapist said. Fox was grateful for the kind words, but the therapist went on to clarify. "We had two kids speak just because Izzy came into their lives." 

She told Fox that she had been walking down a school hallway with one of the nonverbal students a few days prior. At some point, the young boy turned to the therapist and said proudly, "I'm walking the dog" - not just a word or two, but a full sentence. Fox saw that as a bit of an "aha" moment with regard to her efforts. Her voice catching, she says, "That's why I do it."

Anyone who doubts the power of animals to transform lives needs only to speak with Fox and others like her. Increasingly, dogs are being used therapeutically to help children, seniors, disabled veterans, prison inmates and more. But it doesn't just happen - the animals need to be trained and certified, then placed at locations where they can be most effective.

Nancy Dryden, owner of Doggy Do Right in Leesburg and a certified professional dog trainer, is one of the folks who helps with the first part of that equation. Opened 8 years ago, Doggie Do Right trains dogs and provides socialization opportunities through a dog daycare program.

The latter part of the equation involves paws4people, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing canine companionship and therapeutic services to people with physical, emotional or psychiatric disabilities. Paws4people was started in Loudoun in 1999 by Kyria Henry, who was then only 12 years old. Kyria wished to use Riley, her Golden Retriever, to help people feel better.

It was a simple beginning, mostly local nursing home visits. From that humble beginning, paws4people has grown into a non-profit organization that spans five states and helps people with a wide spectrum of needs, all with the help of some dedicated and highly motivated volunteers.

"They're a great group of people," says Allison Kaminsky, director of K-9 operations, paws4people Foundation of Virginia. "(The volunteers) make the program what it is in Loudoun County." About 35 volunteers have their own dogs, which have been evaluated and certified to do visits to nursing homes, senior centers, mental health facilities and schools.

A unique synergy 

Yet regardless of how large or diverse paws4people becomes, it still all starts with the dog. That's where Dryden comes in. She acts as the initial gatekeeper, testing animals to see if they will work well in the program.

"When I administer the test, there is a temperament portion and an obedience portion," Dryden explains. "I have to see if there is aggression or excessive shyness - if they're a good, solid dogs. I also want to see if they walk nicely on a loose lead, if they can sit, stay and come when called. They must be willing to work and listen to their owners."

Even while Dryden prepares dogs to interact for the betterment of human health, she emphasizes the inherent benefits of training for the animals. "Training is important for all dogs, but it's urgent for dogs that are shy, anxious, or aggressive in any way because it is unhealthy for them to live like that every day for the rest of their lives. Training teaches them how to be a dog and to trust in humans, and it will improve their quality and longevity of life."
 

Anthropologists believe that humans might have started domesticating dogs as long as 30,000 years ago. That ancient bond has created a unique synergy that forms the heart of canine therapy. "I know, for example, if some children are having trouble reading or speaking, they can read out loud to a dog," Dryden notes. "For veterans, it allows them to be in the moment. And there are a lot of people in prison who haven't had people to love them Then all of a sudden, they get a dog. The dog doesn't ask 'What are you in for?'"

Many therapy dogs interact with senior citizens, and Dryden observes that the "hands-on" experience can be very beneficial. "Hearing and eyesight get worse as we age," she says. "Touch is our only sense that doesn't diminish over time. In fact, your need for touch gets greater. Dogs allow for that. You can give them affection, and they give you affection right back."

 

Partners in learning and life

During a stop at the Cascades library last year, Caroline Williams saw a demonstration by paws4people. "Being a dog lover," she says, "I had to stop and watch. I thought their mission was great." She was so impressed by what she saw, she volunteered to work with Mocha, her male Chocolate Lab, and visit Falcon's Landing, a retirement living community in the Potomac Falls area, near her home. She and Mocha spend most of their volunteer time at the Johnson Center, which is the Falcon's Landing facility for long-term nursing care, as well as assisted living.

"There's a big demand," Williams notes. "You go in, and there's a list of 70 or so people who would like pet visits. It was a little intimidating at first. But the common area makes it easier to interact with a lot of people. It's been a wonderful experience and brings a big smile (from the residents). That's the thing they say they miss most - having a pet."  

Like Williams, Fox felt the urge to do some good through paws4people. So she left her job in the worker's compensation field to devote her time to canine therapy, ably assisted by Izzy and Cleo (also an English Yellow Lab).
 

It was early on, after very successful puppy and basic obedience training with Dryden, that Fox felt that Izzy was cut out for something more. "I kept seeing all these things about therapy dogs," Fox remembers. "I asked Nancy, 'What do you think?'" Dryden got in touch with paws4people, and Fox started the process for preparing her dogs for therapy use. Izzy trained and received her educational assistance certification about 3 years ago, and Cleo followed suit in the past year. 

Once Izzy was certified, Fox began making visits within the school system and at North Spring Behavioral Healthcare in Leesburg. Within the Loudoun County Public School system, Fox and her dogs spend time with ESL students as they read through the books they've compiled while learning English. Fox, Izzy and Cleo also conduct visits with autistic and learning disabled kids in elementary schools and with the profoundly disabled at the middle school level.

At the North Spring facility, Fox and Izzy work with kids (boys between the ages of 9 and 15) with severe disabilities. "The behavioral facility is amazing," Fox says. "I was briefed on some of the kids' backgrounds. Many come from horrific, dysfunctional home lives. They're (at the facility) to get special training, coping skills, life skills."
 

Fox works at helping the kids relate to basic behaviors and lessons that no one might have ever shown them - and the process can start at a very simple level. "I might say, 'Isn't Izzy's coat soft? Look how shiny it is,'" Fox notes. Then she can explain what kind of grooming goes into Izzy's care and equate that with what the child needs to do for his own basic grooming.  

For Fox, the canine therapy experiences have been profoundly rewarding. "I knew Izzy would be a good therapy dog. There are so many people out in the world who need a little extra help. Seeing the kids eyes light up when Izzy comes in. You can't put a paycheck on that."

Dryden concurs that what dogs provide is satisfying in a very special way. "Whether it's learning unconditional love, teaching a child responsibility, providing companionship, allowing someone to embrace how to be calm yet assertive, etc. ... I have learned that dogs give each of us what we need at exactly the right time. It's up to us to recognize they can help us in our journey of life."