AND WORKING AS SERVICE DOGS
"MONK" is a 14 month old service dog for ISIS, an adorable four year old little girl who has cerebral palsy. "MONK" is owned and trained by Alice Welton, loving grandmother of ISIS. He is Alice's prototype of the "Isis Dog" , a service dog specifically trained for small children with cerebral palsy. "MONK" is shown here in his red Service Vest. "MONK" proudly earned his Canine Good Citizen Certification on Saturday, September 22, 2001.
"MONK" and ISIS are pictured in a swing with ISIS in her swim suit. "MONK" is stabilizing ISIS so she can sit up "all by herself like a big girl".
ISIS and her "MONK" are shown In a recliner. "MONK" is stabilizing ISIS while grounding and calming her for bed time. You can look in "MONK" and ISIS' eyes to see the love they have for each other.
"ANNIE"
Little Princess Annie (Certified Therapy Dog with Pet Pals of Texas)
(owned and handled by Debbie Oliver)
Annie is showing a bedridden patient how much love a yorkie has to give!!!
Jackson Broderick Dunsworthy, CGC (TWO CD legs)
(owned and handled by Mark Salo)
"JACK" is shown at the Childrens Hospital in Washington, DC charming the ladies. "JACK" is part of a group that goes to the hospital every three months to entertain the children there. A yorkies and three little girls, what a perfect combination!!!!
Milacres Time Bandit, CGC
(Certified Therapy Dog With Faithful Friends)
"BANDIT", owned by Cecilia Breigh is shown here at Baywind Nursing Home making the residents feel better. Pet Therapy is the most rewarding thing you can do with your yorkie. What a great job Ceil and "BANDIT" are doing.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERGIE
On February 13th (the day before Fergies 3rd birthday) we had a party for her at Alden Nursing Home where she visits as a Certified Therapy Dog (with TDI) every Sunday. I brought a cake and party hats and leis and took lots and lots of pictures. Fergie wanted to share her favorites with everyone!!
Fergie is shown here with her party hat on by her birthday cake. Happy Birthday was sung and cake was enjoyed by all.
This is one of Fergies favorite people, Linda, decked out in yellow to match her tiara and lei.
Here is Fergie either trying to give one of the residents a kiss or doing her impression of a birthday anteater!!!
Fergie was happy to see her friend Tony back from the hospital and looking so good.
Below is an article that was in the Therapy Dogs International Newsletter written by our own Janice Lea Bingaman about her WORKINGYORKIES Petit Ange & Yorick (Certified Therapy Dogs with TDI).
TORNADO THERAPY DOGS
by Janice Lea Bingaman
We then began volunteering several days a week at the Salvation Army Disaster Relief site. I took turns taking each dog - Petit Ange one day, followed by Yorick the next. For me, the experience has been both rewarding and emotional. For my Yorkies, it has been fun and exhausting. In my past few years of therapy work, I have never seen such dramatic results as I saw in some of the children who came with their families to the Salvation Army. Some children were so traumatized that they were clinging silently to their parents pant legs when they arrived, too afraid to go to the children's play area or want to pet my dog. I sensed their need to feel comforted and reassured as I kneeled down beside them and held my tail-wagging Yorkie within easy touching distance. What started as a hesitant touch was ending with a child happily walking my Yorkie or watching tricks like "ballerina", "roll-over", "high-five", and "boxing" with a punch bag doll.
I think both parents and children alike were suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and the sense of urgency for parents was to find a place to live and to find a starting place to get their lives back in order. The parents were just so overwhelmed that, unfortunately, the children had not had a chance to express their fears and emotions as they quietly suffered along with their families.
Another breakthrough occurred when a little girl held my four pound Petit Ange in her arms. As she began petting Ange, she began telling her all about the tornado blowing the roof off over their closet where they were hiding, how scared she was, and coming out of the closet to find their house gone. Therapy dogs are such great listeners....her mother later told me that her daughter had hardly spoken a word since the tornado and she couldn't believe what a difference this tiny dog had made. Petit Ange simply gave this little girl a chance to release those pent-up emotions she was holding inside and once she was able to express those feelings she was able to let go of some of the fear and be a child again. She, like many other children there, needed to have a chance to tell her story and Yorick, Petit Ange and I were there to listen.
As the weeks went by, Yorick and Petit Ange sat on a lot of laps and listened to a lot of stories. I was particularly touched by a woman who said she felt so guilty (experiencing survivor's guilt) because she had two bedrooms left and so many of her neighbors had nothing. I touched her shoulder and told her I felt guilty because I lived Northwest (opposite side of OKC) and she only had two bedrooms left.
Then, there was the woman whose little girls were heartbroken because their Chihuahua had been killed by the storm ripping apart their house while Mom/Dad were at work and the girls were at a school function. Thankfully, there were just as many stories of pets who miraculously made it through the tornado and people who escaped unharmed when the only part of their house remaining was the small closet or bathtub where they took shelter.
I really admire the disaster workers that came from all over the country to help these people, I could not do this on a continual basis. I tried to be a good listener, positive and entertaining while I was there, but I usually came home and cried. I found this experience to be very emotionally draining for me and I suspect, for my dogs as well. However, these therapy visits gave me a chance to express the sorrow and sadness I feel for my close friends who lost so much in this tornado and for all the people we visited each day. We were grateful to have this opportunity to serve our community.
On May 3, 1999 the most violent tornado ever recorded, reporting winds up to 318 miles per hour and the first F-6 categorized tornado did devastating damage to parts of Oklahoma City and surrounding areas. A few days after this disastrous storm, I received a phone call from Virginia Ballenger. She was in charge of scheduling therapy visits at various shelters. Virginia thought I had volunteered for visitations. I interpreted this mistake as a sign that we were, indeed, supposed to be a part of the tornado recovery and readily volunteered.
CLICK ON THE BUTTERFLIES ABOVE TO SEE A LIST OF CERTIFYING THERAPY DOG ORGANIZATIONS
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