National Therapy Dog Day: 'Look into those big brown eyes and problems just go away'

Today — Tuesday, April 30 — is National Therapy Dog Day. 

The occasion is not only a day of appreciation for therapy dogs and their handlers but a call for more Saultites and their dogs to volunteer their time and join the local St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program.

A dog and its owner, once certified by the program, form a ‘team,’ the canines providing comfort to people in various types of surroundings. 

“In the fall of 2022 we started up again. We connected with a few people and their dogs who were involved with the program before the pandemic shut most of it down. We had an evaluation at that time and we had six teams and now after more evaluations we’re up to a dozen teams,” said Joey Kirkwood, St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program coordinator in an interview with SooToday.

Those teams make much-appreciated visits to 18 facilities and organizations in the community.

“We go to the hospital and long term care homes as you would expect but we also go to the libraries, the airport, a couple of schools and corporations when they’re focusing on mental health programs for their staff. Staff love it. It gives them a break and a chance to talk about something other than work. You put a dog into the mix and people instantly open up. OLG had us come in last fall. The PUC is having a dog team come in and visit them next week,” Kirkwood said.  

“We stop in and visit residents at long term care homes and ask if they would like a visit, which they usually do. It’s just petting the dog, that touch, that opportunity to talk with someone who’s going to listen to you, the feeling of that soft fur. People benefit from that so much. These are tough times that we’re in these days. People are stressed for so many, many reasons and with dogs that stress just melts away. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, they get that time when they can just relax and look into those big brown eyes and the problems just go away. We visit the staff at the long term care homes too. They benefit from the visits as well.”

The reasons for the visits vary depending on the location.

“When we’re at the airport we visit passengers waiting to board the plane. Sometimes passengers are nervous to fly or they’re missing their own dog or their families. We run into a lot of commuters who spend a lot of time away from their homes,” Kirkwood said.

Most children love dogs but Kirkwood said the therapy dogs are an especially big help for children who have limited mobility or speech.

How are teams picked?

“We do have a thorough evaluation process. It consists of 12 exercises that puts the dog and the handler into situations they will commonly see in a visiting environment, like lots of people petting the dog at the same time, loud noises, walking through a crowd, being able to walk on a leash, being able to take a treat politely, things that we need to make sure that the dog and the handler will be prepared for,” Kirkwood said.

After passing those 12 exercises, the team begins mentored visits with an experienced handler.

Dog and owner then become a fully certified team and begin their volunteer visiting career.

Teams are asked to commit to one visit a week but are welcome to do more.

Anyone interested can contact the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program by email.

“Our handlers are people who would like to volunteer and share their dog's love with others. If you've got a friendly dog that you really want to share and provide visits to people who would appreciate spending time with your dog then we certainly are wanting to meet you,” Kirkwood said.