A few weeks ago, over happy hour (shocking, I know), I had an idea. Well, the idea was brought up to me and I jumped on it. A colleague who recently lost her sweet pup was telling me how she used to lend her dog to local people in need of love and offer up her puppy snuggles to them as pet therapy.
Now, as a dog lover myself, this idea sounded simply wonderful. Not only do I have an uber snuggler (albeit a wall-licker) of a pup, but I've been yearning for some option to do something to better mankind. ("Wow, you got Marky Mark to find time in his busy pants-dropping schedule to plant a tree?" ---- Sorry. Had to throw in the obligatory Clueless quote when the opportunity arose.)
A lightbulb immediately went off and the next day I asked my puppy loving-est friend if she knew where I could find such a program (my colleague lives in SoCal, so obviously it would be cumbersome to try and join her program, although I'd love the excuse to travel to SD every month!) Not surprisingly, my local friend (the most loving Rottie owner in the world, who very unfortunately lost her sweet Em recently) knew right where to lead me and I got in contact with a local group that day.
This group has various one-hour visits at facilities throughout the greater Sacramento area, including elderly facilities, mental health centers and community centers.
So, tomorrow I go on a "Shadow visit" where I follow a therapy dog and their owner for an hour. The visit is at a local library, which was somewhat of a surprise... As it turns out, organizations such as this offer programs for young children who struggle with reading to practice in front of the pups, as a less-stressful option for them to work on their reading skills.
As a star reader myself (at least in my mind), I find this to be a perfect fit for me. I'm sure I drove my mom and dad berserk growing up, as I would find any possible reason to read aloud to them, everything from my essays, to news articles, to labels on our groceries. The opportunity to help someone who struggles in reading is an amazing way to help them strengthen the building blocks that are so important to being successful.
So tomorrow we will see if this program is everything I've been dreaming it is. And then in another week, Bruce and I have orientation. Then we have to go through an obedience test (conveniently enough judged by the woman who Bruce, Rocco, Shupe and I have used as our trainer for the last few years!) and we will be ready to roll!
I am so excited about the opportunity to share a few snuggles with someone who may not be as fortunate as I am to have a live-in snuggler (Bruce, not Shupie).
Wish us luck!
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