The return of a local program is unleashing the power of a dog's love.
Earlier this year, the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog program made its return after a three-year hiatus due to COVID.
At a recent visit to St. Mary's Gardens in Timmins, about 15 eager residents met with four dogs and their humans for a little bit of love therapy, says Melissa Lacoursiere, who's a volunteer and evaluator with the program.
"The dog goes and visits each individual and the person just pets them and regales stories of their past. It just brings them calmness and serenity. They can’t have their own pets in the building anymore ... they’re always saying ‘we’re so thankful for this, we miss our own dogs'," she says.
There is also a library program to help children read.
“So if you have children that have a hard time reading you can sign them up for this library program and the child actually sits and reads to the dog. It’s been proven to calm and relax the child in order for them to open up and read properly and get over their fears,” she said.
Lacoursiere got involved with the program about eight years ago.
With a love of the elderly and having no grandparents left, she's filling the void by spending time with and getting to know people at local residences.
"And I just love to see the smiles on their faces and how they light up when we come in with the dogs. They’re very excited every week. Yesterday I didn’t have to wait for anybody, people were already there waiting for the dogs,” she says.
One of her two dogs, Chloe, is a therapy dog. Chloe's calm and gentle. She loves being pet and seeing people.
"There’s never any issues with other dogs and she generally enjoys it. She goes and lies down at their feet. Yesterday when she did her little rounds, there’s one specific person she really, really takes to so she’ll lie down at their feet and enjoy their love. I have to say ‘next, time to move on’,” she laughs.
With the program just getting back on its feet, there's a need for volunteers and room for new places to sign on for visits.
Pre-COVID, Lacoursiere says the Timmins chapter had 30 teams of dogs and their handlers. During the program's pause, some dogs retired or passed away and the volunteers are building up their teams again. A recent evaluation brought their numbers back up to about 20 teams.
Dogs of all sizes can take part, right now people locally are being visited by breeds ranging from a Westie to an Irish wolfhound.
A therapy dog is different than a service dog.
"They don’t actually do things specifically for you — that’s where there’s a confusion sometimes when it comes to therapy and service. Therapy is basically to meet the needs and wants and fill a void for the people who are in resident homes and hospitals and that no longer have pets,” explains Lacoursiere.
Therapy dogs are calm, not aggressive and are good around other dogs.
“The handler has to have complete control over their dog. If the dog does get excited, we want to see that the handler can actually calm them down in a matter of quick minutes. They have to be friendly with other dogs since you’re meeting with other dog teams and generally just loving. Loveable and people-oriented, even the team handler has to be people-oriented,” she says.
Evaluations for the handlers and their dogs are done a couple of times a year. For dogs who will be working with children, there's a special evaluation that needs to be completed after successfully doing a set number of adult visits.
A handful of locations have signed back on for therapy dog visits and there's room for more.
Learn more about the program and how to be a volunteer or register for visits here.
