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Thanks to a very special golden retriever, hundreds of volunteers are sharing their pets with people to brighten their day.
Lynne Robinson founded Newark, Del.-based PAWS for People with her dog, Boo Radley, as a way to provide healing through individualized therapeutic visits as the physical and mental health benefits are well-known.
“He was a very good intuitive therapy dog,” she said. “I rescued him at 4 years old. He taught me what to do.”
PAWS for People, Pet-Assisted Visitation/Volunteer Services, is in its 15th year, serving 176 sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Through it, 660 teams provide services for 22 programs ranging from hospitals, hospice, skilled care units, dementia-related clients, prisons and drug and alcohol abuse treatment facilities. “If you think of a pet therapy visit, most people think of a middle-aged woman with a golden retriever goes into a hospital and leaves with everyone smiling,” Robinson said. “We do it better.” She explained that PAWS for People teach their teams how to watch people’s body language to give them the type of visit they need. “We really mean that,” Robinson said. “You get what you need, the next person gets what he needs, the next person gets what she needs.” All of the individualized therapeutic visits are tailored specifically to the person receiving the visit whether they want a three-second pet the dog or five hours visiting with rooms of children at a pediatric hospital. It can also be for the caretakers from the nurse caring for a person to an employee emptying the trash. “We do what’s needed,” Robinson said. “We do what people are asking for.” Assisted living visits are also unique in their own way. There, people may not have family near and, often, they can’t have their animals. “Sometimes, they’re lonely, sometimes they’re scared, sometimes they’re angry,” Robinson said. “They just need something to brighten up their life and make them happy.” All of the PAWS for People teams are volunteers consisting of a pet owner with their animal, be it a dog, cat or even a rabbit. “What they want to do is share the love and companionship of their pet with others who don’t have that,” Robinson said.
There is a rigorous training process that all teams complete and there’s one this month at St. James Church of Christ on Myrtle Avenue in Havertown, although pre-registration is required.
If an owner has extra time and a gentle, people-friendly pet, first they fill out a PAWS for People application.
Then, the organization’s staff do a personal phone call to talk to them about their animal and what their owner’s interest is.
After that, they are invited to a PAWS for People orientation where they bring the animal. “It’s by invitation only,” Robinson said.
There, they get an overview of the program and what’s involved.
Next, the applicant must complete a certification evaluation.
“In that evaluation, we’re looking for the relationship between the human and the animal,” Robinson explained. “We’re making sure that that animal is under that person’s control.”
They want to make certain that the pet understands some commands, such as “Come.”
“At the end of that session, we invite
“If you think of a pet therapy visit, most people think of a middleaged woman with a golden retriever goes into a hospital and leaves with everyone smiling. We do it better.” — Lynne Robinson