The Pets as Therapy (PAT) charity was founded in 1983 and now has more than 4,500 registered dogs (and about 100 cats) who regularly visit care homes, hospitals, hospices, day centres, schools and even jails. They visit about 130,000 people a week – over 6 million a year. Some dogs take part in a scheme run by Pets as Therapy called Read2Dogs and go into schools to listen encouragingly to children who find reading difficult.
These dogs are what the name says – simply pets without any special training. But each dog has a careful temperament assessment before being accepted as a visitor. Pets as Therapy volunteers include a number of Cavaliers, who make ideal visiting dogs. They are small enough to sit on a hospital bed but big enough to be stroked from an easy chair. Their gentle temperament calms the fears of children, but their enthusiasm for people lights up a care home lounge. Regular visits usually last about an hour, and can be weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or once every school term, whatever is arranged between the volunteer and the place they are visiting.
In Coventry and Warwickshire, where I am an Area Coordinator, PAT dogs visit the students at Warwick University twice a term, and recently a team of five spent a morning at a school for children with severe learning difficulties. One of our Cavalier visiting dogs is Mia, owned by Jayne Mills, who visits a large home for older people with dementia and a hospice. Jayne has wonderful stories to tell of the effect Mia has on the people she visits. Last year Jayne and Mia helped out on the Pets as Therapy stand at Crufts (pictured below).
If you have a calm and friendly Cavalier and a bit of spare time once a week or fortnight, do think about sharing the love they give you with other people – many residents in care homes are without a dog for the first time in their lives and love a visit. Or you could go into a local school and let your Cavalier sit and wag their tail as they listen to children gaining confidence in reading. You can get an application form from the PAT website: www.petsastherapy.org
PICKLE’S STORY – told by Olly Tolhurst
In my experience Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are born to be Pets As Therapy dogs. As a temperament assessor, volunteer coordinator for the charity and from eight years’ experience as a volunteer taking my Darcy and Pickle into both primary schools and care homes, I witnessed first hand how they not only enhanced lives but also created a special bond with me adding a new dimension to dog ownership.
Darcy (left) and Pickle
Pickle visited a primary school with me on a weekly basis for eight years. Alongside a trained child mental health therapist, we worked with children on a one-to-one basis with varied social, emotional and behavioural problems. Many traumatised children are withdrawn and I found teaching simple dog training where they had to give command words, improved both confidence and self esteem enabling them to talk freely about their feelings. Sometimes a stressed upset child would just come for a cuddle and he cured countless children of dog phobia. He also gave stress relief to school staff who would come for Pickle cuddles every week!
Pickle quickly became so popular that he was given a coat with school crest on it, attended sports days and school events as a mascot! He loved every minute in school and even after after eight years was mobbed by delighted children. We were even invited to a child”s christening by adoptive parents of a pupil who had lost both natural parents through illness and considered Pickle her only true friend for a while.
Sadly both beautiful dogs died from MVD this year. Pickle’s school was devastated and every pupil wrote a tribute to him which was presented to me in a lovely folder and a memorial tree and statue was placed in the school garden.I gained comfort from the fact that even his death helped the children talk and learn about feelings of grief.
PAT are always desperate for new volunteers, so I urge Cavalier owners to consider becoming a volunteer and I can guarantee you won’t regret it.