Therapy Dogs, Inc.

Dick and Alice Bernthal of West Olive, MI and their malamutes, Timtoo and Dakota, are registered by Therapy Dogs Inc. They outlined for me some of the techniques they have used in recruiting sites to visit.

"How we have been successful in gaining access to the places we visit for pet therapy:

Our TDInc. T/O was helpful in introducing us and leading us through our first visits.
Alice called a number of the locations on the Lakeshore Therapy Dogs Registry list. Some required several calls.
We made extensive use of friends and acquaintances who worked in schools and/or missions. Some were teachers. Even our minister had suggestions of places which might appreciate a visit from the dogs.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, Alice was doggedly persistent (not a pun). She made contacts over and over again until she got a yes or not. Even the most elusive were enthusiastic after an actual visit.

Hospital visits usually last in the vicinity of an hour and are principally limited by the interest of the dogs and their ability to handle the stress of meeting so many people. 45 minutes would be better, but the demand usually rises once people hear the howls in the hall.

On the other hand, 15-20 minutes seem sufficient for preschoolers, whose attention span is limited.

Our particular dogs seem to be especially effective with both young people and adults who are having mental problems or who are impaired. One of our first visitations was to Sheldon Pines School where about 30 young people, varying in age from 11 to 19, spent about 45 minutes petting the dogs and asking all sorts of questions. They were most enthusiastic, sent thank you letters and invited us to return next spring. The last 15 minutes of each Holland Hospital visit are spent visiting the mental behavioral ward. It was there that our most rewarding encounter took place. We were ushered into a locked room where a young woman was sitting silently on the floor in a hospital gown. She had towels wrapped around her head and was staring out thru them in a forlorn fashion. On introduction by the nurses seemed to draw no response. Then Timtoo, our large male Malamute, advanced slowly wagging his tail and gently licked her face. Gradually she started to respond until at the end of a quarter hour she was hugging him and telling her story. She was a new bride from Iceland.

Last week the dogs spent time on the orthopedic floor. Dakota visited a 90 year old woman who as very friendly and talkative, carrying on a long conversation with Dakota while petting her. Finally the lady startled everyone by saying how much bigger Dakota had grown during her hospital stay. She had confused Dakota with her own dog at home.

Several younger children who seemed deathly afraid of dogs ended up begging their teachers or parent for dogs at the end of our visits.

One small grandson of a neighbor recently moved here from out of state and was having difficulty making friends in his daycare center. Alice arranged a short program for the dogs at the center and he was overwhelmed to see them at his school. Since he knew the dogs by name and was not afraid, he gained some instant credibility with the other children.

Both the dogs and us have found this to be a rewarding and stimulating program. Dick & Alice Bernthal"

The Bernthal's dogs are extremely well behaved and under control. In all our observation visits and a sample visit to a day care center, no one exhibited any fear of them, altho they are huge! Both are registered as handlers with both dogs, allowing the greatest flexibility. If one dog is sick, either person can visit with the other one. And if one handler were hospitalized, the other could take both dogs -- separately of course -- to visit. Comments from community residents on observing them entering the hospital -- which has an extensive pet therapy program -- indicate another aspect of promoting pet therapy. Who wouldn't prefer to be hospitalized in a place which had such a neat program!

Lakeshore Huskies