Sunday, March 5, 2017

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2007, at Mattie's 5th birthday party. This party was one for the books! I held it at the National Zoo. They have special party rooms and assign you a zoo member who gives you a private tour of the zoo. Well that day there was rain, and I mean torrential rain. I thought the party was going to be a disaster with a bunch of five-year-olds walking in a deluge. The zoo has a rain or shine policy, so the party had to happen. What surprised me was the kids LOVED being in the zoo when it was pouring. In fact, so did the animals. They were all outside and loving the rain. The weather made it a real adventure and I am not sure it would have been such a memorable party without the help of Mother Nature. The zoo gave every child a safari hat, and to this day this hat sits in Mattie's bedroom. 


Quote of the day: Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. ~ Anatole France

For the past 8 weeks, Sunny and I were enrolled in a basic dog training course. I have to tell you, if someone told me I was going to be doing this, I most likely would have said NO! However, soon after we adopted Sunny, I felt his demeanor, personality and disposition would make him the perfect therapy dog. Particularly to help fulfill Mattie Miracle's psychosocial mission. Not sure how we lucked out with getting Sunny, since rescue dogs tend to come with a lot of baggage. Sunny thrives on human attention and love. Which is why a therapy role would be mutually beneficial..... good for a child and good for Sunny. Within a few weeks of owning Sunny, I started researching pet therapy certification programs. There are MANY, but they are NOT all alike. Some require a great deal of training/education, such as the National Capitol Therapy Dogs program. Mind you this is the only program that certain hospitals accept like Georgetown University Hospital and the Children's Inn at NIH. Which is why I decided to invest in this certification. 

Given the requirements of National Capitol Therapy Dogs, I couldn't just apply to enter into the pet therapy certification program without pre-requisites. Sunny needed to obtain his Canine Good Citizen certificate first, which he did on December 4, 2016. However, to date Sunny has taken a total of 12 training classes, and I am happy he graduated today. 

Now I can officially apply to enter the pet therapy certification program. I say I, because it is a program for dog and handler. I have learned with training, competition, or certification.... both dog and handler are being assessed. Here are the requirements:

Step 1 - Your dog must pass the AKC Canine Good Citizen test before you start NCTD classes. 
Step 2 - You take a 5-hour class, for handlers only, to review important information you need before you visit with your dog. 
Step 3 - You and your dog take a 6-week training class that covers appropriate visiting behaviors and techniques. 
Step 4 - You schedule an NCTD evaluation for you and your dog, usually within a few weeks after your last class. 
Steps 5-8 - After you pass the NCTD evaluation, the Director of Volunteers will help you find a facility to visit. You will also be assigned a mentor, who will accompany and assist you until you are comfortable visiting on your own.