KELOWNA – There’s no doubt about it, dogs really do make the best of friends. That’s why St. John Ambulance has a Therapy Dog program. Therapy dogs and their handlers pay friendly visits to senior homes and other places to bring joy and comfort to those who need it most.
One of the dogs in trhaining is Mason, a nine-year old Malamute Husky. Mason passed his evaluation for the Therapy Dog program, which means he and his owner Darcy Letendre are on their way to becoming a therapy dog team.
“We actually call him the Walmart greeter because he loves saying hi to everybody and he will actually go out and seek people to say, ‘hey, hi, how are you’ and he wants to have constant attention so I thought he was the perfect fit for the dog therapy program,” Letendre says.
Before a handler and their dog become a therapy dog team, they must participate in a one day evaluation process. Dog evaluator Ellen Boelecke says the evaluation includes twelve different personality tests. She says the evaluation looks at how well the dog deals with environmental stresses and meeting different people.
Unit Facilitator of the Dog Therapy program, Colette Seward says the connection between a care resident and a therapy dog team is very special.
“By having a therapy dog team of St. John Ambulance come to visit with these residents, it’s psychological therapy, it is cognitive therapy, it is first aid of the heart,” Seward says.
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