Yorkies as Therapy Pets
 

Sorry for bumping this...I just did a search on therapy dogs (shoulda done that first) and found a very recent thread that tells all about it. Thanks for those who contributed to that thread. It is very helpful. Thanks!

YES YES YES!!!!! We use our yorkies as therapy pets through a program called P.A.W.S. through our church. PAWS stands for Pets Are Working Saints. They had to be put through a "test" to see how they did with the elderly, handicapped people, around wheelchairs & crutches, etc. Of course ours passed with flying colors :p :D

But anyway, we take them once a month to a nursing home and let the elderly love on them and hold them. Sometimes if we are available, we take them to handicapped children's facilities and let the children love on them. It is so rewarding to see the faces on these people when we bring our little doggies to share. The elderly always share stories of the pets they had when they were younger and they express to us how much they love seeing our pets once a month.

Like I said, we do it through our church. PAWS does not have a website. You could check the listings of ministries at your local churches...I am sure there is at least one church in your area who has some sort of ministry like this, although it may not be called "PAWS." You would probably HAVE to be with some sort of group or program in order to take your dog to a nursing home or other facility bc I doubt they would want strange animals coming to visit. We have to provide verification of shots before they can go visit.

If you want more information, please let me know! I would love to share more about my experiences.

I think you can take them to various hospitals in general. I think it just depends on their rules. You could call around in your area and find out what places will allow you to do it. My friend wanted to do this with her doberman. I think its a great thing. Not only does it help with you bringing the dog in but it also you're in there too so its another person in to see them too and shows that people do care. I also think that the people who do this find it very rewarding as well as their pup. The pup gets a lot of attention and knows that they are making people happy.

You could also check with local trainers or shelters to see if they have any info on it. My friend had her dog in training through petsmart and the trainer taught her alot about it. I don't think they offered an actual class on it there though. We took training course through our local park and rec and our trainer had several therapy dogs.

Thanks guys. Great info. This is something I'm very interested in and I will check locally to see what I can find out. I think I'll check with Petsmart this afternoon.
RLC, please share some of your experiences with us. I'd love to hear them. It sounds like a wonderful ministry.

BTW, the addy on the other thread is: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44835 It's a lively discussion (hey, it's YT), but if you skip the controvery there's a lot of great info there.