Gentle Care Animal Hospital's Patient Becomes Therapy Pet

Alfie: Certified Therapy Pet

Gentle Care Animal Hospital is proud of one of our patients "Alfie" and his recent accomplishments. He received his certification to be a therapy pet after training with his pet parent, Robin, for nearly one year!

Alfie and Robin trained through the Delta Society Pet Partners Program which is a non-profit volunteer organization with a testing site in Greenville, NC. Alfie is certified for both "Trained Animal Assisted Activities" and " Therapy". Through the "Trained Animal Assisted Activities", Alfie is able to visit Children's Hospitals, Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes and children with reading disabilities. Through the "Therapy" program, he can help patients in occupational therapy with the permission from the facility.

Although Alfie has been training for nearly a year there is no time limit for certification. His first step was standard obedience where he attended weekly classes and was trained at home. Once he mastered standard obedience he needed to be comfortable around distractions he may encounter in hospitals and nursing homes. Wheelchairs, medical equipment, loud noises, elevators, rough petting, crowds and interacting with other animals are all things that Alfie will continue to sit through. Lastly, Alfie was certified by Dr. Krahn that he was healthy enough to volunteer. Robin feels that Alfie's involvement with doggie daycare on a regular basis has helped with his training.

Alfie is not the only one that had to go through rigorous training. Robin had a home study course that she took and had to pass a written test. Both of them went to the Greenville testing site as the final step in their certification.

Alfie and Robin are excited to start volunteering and bringing joy into the lives of children and patients healing from various ailments. If you are interested in training your pet to volunteer please contact Robin with questions at: rbf706@bellsouth.net. You can also refer to Delta Society Pet Partners Program's website: http://www.deltasociety.org/.