Dog-fetch bingo entertains people with dementia
Fort William dementia support group is taking part in a ground-breaking project trialling innovative new ways to help Scots who are living with the condition during the pandemic.
Dementia Dog, a collaboration between Alzheimer Scotland and UK-wide charity Dogs for Good, uses specially trained dogs to help people with dementia and their carers.
During lockdown, the project had to find new ways to work with their clients to help them stay connected and reduce social isolation. An array of fantastic ideas included virtual therapy walks, online doggy bingo and physiotherapy sessions. Virtual dog bingo sessions take place through video calls with existing Alzheimer Scotland dementia support groups in various locations across the country.
So far they have delivered 70 group sessions and they have reached many more people online in a wider geographical area than they would usually be able to.
To date the dogs have been Billy (four-year-old black Labrador/retriever) with Carla Haizelden and Georgie (a four-year-old golden retriever) with Julia Winters, who are both trained Dementia Community Dogs.
In the new year they will be training a pool of Dementia Dog volunteers with their own trained pet dogs to help deliver virtual dog bingo sessions to help meet rising demand.
Community dog handler Carla said: ‘Doggy bingo is very straightforward and easy to play. The players can watch Billy go and fetch a ball with a random number on it from a container. He passes it to me and I read out the number.
‘Although the dogs are all very well trained we do allow them to have their own personality so it’s only natural that they sometimes get distracted and go off. There have been times during a game when Billy walks off to get my slippers or a toy instead of a bingo ball and that always gives everyone a bit of a laugh.
‘He also gets impatient and whines when I’m talking too much because he wants to get on with the playing game and pick the numbers.’
Dementia Dog also works with physiotherapists to offer virtual video exercise sessions tailored to clients’ needs.