Comments on: Autism Therapy: Pet Therapy

By: Michael Pugliese

Michael Pugliese — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:15:51 +0000

Greetings,

I am the founder of Shadows for Life, which is a non-profit Assistance Dog training agency located in Mansfield, Texas. We are a young agency, and we have worked with a few autistic children since our inception, but I would like to get more involved in this area.

Your web-site is excellent, and I thought that I would drop you a line to see if you have any advice, comments or direction. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks for your time.

Michael Pugliese
Founder & President
Shadows for Life

By: Kylene

Kylene — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:04:14 +0000

I work with children diagnosed with Autism. The more time i spend with them, the more I am convinced that animal therapy would be a great thing to introduce to our program. A few of my coworkers agree with me on this subject. We’re looking for any information on the effects of animal therapy and autism in order to form a good argument to present to our support coordinators and program directors.
I, myself, have a trained therapy dog that already adores a few of the kids that I work with. I’ve seen first hand the differences in them when he is around, and know that having an on-site program would do wonders with the others. I just need more information to present. Anything that you have that could help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Kylene

By: Deb

Deb — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:24:23 +0000

What a remarkable thing! I am partial to dogs (have had them all of my 44 years), but know that all animals can be therapeutic. Even FISH!
Good for you!!
Thank you for reading my blog. I promise I won’t take such a long vacation next time
Blessings,
Deb

By: Chun Wong

Chun Wong — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:13:59 +0000

I definitely agree that pet therapy works and I know parents whose autistic children have really been helped by horse therapy.

By: Hollye Clardy

Hollye Clardy — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:20:32 +0000

Hi Deb,

I firmly believe in pet therapy for the sick and the well. You have a great blog site! Thank you for the information on the pet therapy.

Hollye Clardy

By: Joanne Jurgle

Joanne Jurgle — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:04:43 +0000

We are a Therapy Assisted organization that visits Nursing Homes, Children’s Hospitals, rehab centers and lots of other facilities. What an amazing site to see how these dogs can connect to so many humans when no human can.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:45:23 +0000

I LOVE, LOVE all of your comments!!! Thank you Sandy and pwd! I had to name the blog something and Therapy Dogs seemed like THE title. You are both correct. A therapy dog is different than a service dog. They both have to go through proper training (as our pup Katie hasn’t…lol!). But, she has brought so much into our lives! All animals do. They are a blessing. GREAT COMMENTS!!! Please keep them coming & if you have a suggestion for a future blog, let me know & I will research for you

And Wendy, I can just see Joshua in the zoo. Going from exhibit to exhibit

Maybe we’ll have to arrange a Zoo night for the Foundation?

Thanks for your comments and moreover, thank you for reading.

Many blessings,

Deb

By: pwd-sd

pwd-sd — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:33:19 +0000

That’s wonderful Deb. Like Sandy in her post stated therapy dogs are different then service dogs.

I could also believe that fish could be great as therapy too as they are so soothing watching them. Their mostly slow motion and yet fast when is needed.

By: Wendy King

Wendy King — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:33:48 +0000

Awesome, as always, Deb. We tried a dog once, but I think he was the WRONG breed, lol. I haven’t gotten brave enough to try it again.

For Joshua, his “pet therapy” is the zoo. During the summer months, we go at least once a week, sometimes more. It’s amazing how the animals seem drawn to him. We can spend an hour or more just in the petting zoo or watching the polar bears swim.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:05:35 +0000

Awesome! Another family that has benefited from having a dog. I am an adult with Aspergers and have had at least 1 dog at a time almost my whole life. My current dog is a Bichon-Cavalier mix and she is the epitome of the Velcro spaniel! She makes physical contact tolerable, and I find it much easier to look her right in the eye as I talk to her.

There is a difference between a therapy dog, which goes into hospitals and nursing homes to spend time with people to cheer them up, and a service dog, which goes through intense training to be able to perform specific tasks for an owner with a disability. I’m looking into putting my Molly through formal obedience training so she can get certification to be a therapy dog.

Thanks for sharing about your adorable doggies!