From agility to therapy

[lv4dogs]

Well as most of you know I am getting my Aussie pup this spring and was going to do agility with him. Well that has semi-changed.

As some may know from my LJ my nephew who is 2 was rushed to PICU (pediatric ICU) very early Wed. morning. He was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. His blood sugar should be between 60or80 to100, it was 1800 when he was administered. He was very sick. He is improving a lot though and should come home early next week.

I went up to visit for the first time Wed. evening and my heart just melted as soon as I stepped foot into the doors. Not only seeing him like he was but all of the other children as well. It was the sadest sight my eyes have ever witnessed. And it made a big impact on my life. I decided right then & there (and still am 50000000% sure of it) that I want to do therapy work with my dog, for children that are sick and injured.

I can go on & on about what I saw, what impacts it made on me, what went & is still going through my head, what I will do about it and so on & so forth but that would make for one very long post indeed.
So to sum it all up I want to make a difference in the lives of the less-unfortunate, kids to be exact as they are more helpless and uncomfortable about those situations than adults are.

So therapy it is. We will probably still do agility just for fun and to help with the dog's energy level and if later on my time allows it we may show in agility but that will not be first on the list anymore.

[animal_rescue]

That's wonderful, you'll see a lot of happy faces and I'm sure your dog will love it too!

[Ginger's Mom]

I think it is wonderful of you to want to do therapy work with your dogs. And I am positive that the sight of a beautiful Aussie puppy/dog, is sure to brighten the day for the children. I am not sure what training the dogs have to go through to be certified therapy dogs, but any early training is bound to help in the agility training later (just for attention if nothing else). And of course you and your dog will enjoy doing this special work together as much as the children will enjoy seeing you.

I hope your nephew is doing better. Please keep us informed.

[Bonny]

My Aussie dog Bob was a therapy dog. The residents loved him. The Aussie's have such a wonderful personality & are so gentle. Bless you for caring & thinking about the joy you can bring to others with sharing your future Aussie pup.

[Oggyflute]

Good one mate. You and your dog will both benefit from it, as will the children you visit.

[luvofallhorses]

God Bless your soul When I have another dog in the future, I am going to train one for a therapy dog. I have high respect for them as well as service dogs. Great choice you made I am sure you can do agility w/ one of your other doggies I am going to put Buster into it. Bless you again.

[K9soul]

What a beautiful gesture. I did some therapy with my collies, Cody and Willie, taking them to nursing homes, and it was very fulfilling and wonderful. I have really missed that ability, Tasha is just not a people dog and Tommy has his nervous issues, though I think he'd be wonderful around people, he can be jumpy around unfamiliar objects and submissive urinate when strangers first pet him. I truly do want to get into it again someday though.

What a wonderful inspiration, and I truly wish you the best in this course. You will find it so very rewarding

[Cincy'sMom]

I'm sure you will enjoy doing therapy work very much. All 3 of ours are registered therapy dogs, and we try to do one visit a week. Tuesday we went to a library so the kids could read to the dogs, and tonight we went a a locals school's fundraiser for their advanced reading program. we also visit nursing homes, hospitals and do educational programs.

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by luvofallhorses
God Bless your soul When I have another dog in the future, I am going to train one for a therapy dog. I have high respect for them as well as service dogs. Great choice you made I am sure you can do agility w/ one of your other doggies I am going to put Buster into it. Bless you again.

Thank you for your blessings on doing therapy work with him.

The original reason I was getting the Aussie is because my dogs are too old or poor health to do it. But thats alright, therapy will much more rewarding.

[cali]

good luck! I would LOVE to do therapy work with Happy, she adores kids and kids adore her, people love watching her to tricks and she is so gental. the only problem? to get a TDI certificate your dog HAS to be fully vaccinated, Happy gets vaccinosis. vaccinating her will kill her, so my dreams of Happy being a therapy dog were completly dashed