THERAPY DOGS

[arizonabeagle]

now i know this is the big game hunting with dogs section
but i feel its the most visited and i'd like some ideas or reflection from this post
so buddy feel free to move it if you'd like, i just didnt know where to put it

with that said
i was wondering if any of you guys have experience with therapy dogs, be it hound or another breed
i have a beagle,Roscoe, well ol roscoe dont have much hunt to him but i keep him around cuz i like him
i've taken him to my moms workplace (she's the head cook at a retirement home)
he does real good around the older people being he is really calm and just kind of indifferent to to most people or goings on..
He's only been twice but were looking at bringing him more and setting up "activities" where i bring the dog, kind of talk about the breed history and hunting with hounds in general, one old man used to hunt dogs there i know for a fact...my mom figures it'd be a good idea seeing as how the tennents as they call them dont have much contact with the outside world and alot of their familes come see them maybe once a month

so if the plans go throught that'd be great, i'm pretty excited about it
i was just wondering what you guys thought, have any ideas how i should go about it? and personnal experience with things of this nature i would much appreciate the advice/ ideas
thanks alot
Mike

[bigboarstopper]

Sounds like good stuff to me. When im older, if my wife goes before me and im alone id sure as hell would rather hang out with dogs than get visited by my family! I couldnt imagine not having a dog. At least one. Dog dosent even have to like me. Just give me the stink eye every once in a while. All joking aside. If i was living at one of those places I would love to have a dog around. I have a retired 14 yr old catahoula hog dog that I take everywhere with me. Grandmas, other peoples houses, truck dog. And she is a hit. All the old ladies in the family love her. Kids try using her as a pillow. Only thing id do if I was you is clip them dogs nails. Old folks skin gets a little thin and they could get a bad scrach. Older dogs are a whole lot mellower and are more predictible. Lot less jumpin arround. I hope there are more people like you around when im in one of those places.

[arizonabeagle]

well i thank you for the kind words
and i hope it all works out

about the nails, i keep em trimmed up nice and neat since you can find me and both them dogs on the leather sofa watchin a movie on a hot day...and if the couches got scratched my mom would have my hide! lol
i think tomorrow i'll start workin with him..see where his limits are atleast when it comes to getting aggravated..i wouldnt just take some dog into a place like that not nothin how he'll behave
he's just up for a rabbies shot
i hope i dont have to go through the whole process of the backround check and fingerprints and what not..i'm just an 18 year old kid tryin to do some good
thats why no one volunteers for stuff like that..too much hassle but i'll do it if i gotta
thank you again
Mike

[drew]

This is a great topic. I manage assisted living communities in washington, and i have a male bluetick who is 3 and is really mellow, so i bring him into work every now and then and the residents just love him. Especially the memory care residents (Alzheimers). Now there are some people that come in the building and claim that they have a therapy dog, but from what i have seen the only qualification for a therapy dog, is a dog that is fine with 10-15 people trying to pet him at one time. It is interesting to find out how many of the residents ran hounds, and you never would have had a clue. There are currently 260 residents in my building now and 5 or 6 that i know of have ran hounds and i only knew of 1 until i brought my dog in. Anyways, good topic and it really is a treat for many of the residents in these communities. Thanks.

Drew