WHO MAKES UP OUR TEAMS?
- The human component
- Working professionals, retired citizens, students, and junior handlers (must be 16 and accompanied by a parent/guardian)
- Anyone sincerely interested in enriching the lives of others through sharing his/her dog
- The dog component
- Purebred, mix breed, champion, rescue, one-time shelter, young and senior dogs, all are welcome
- Dogs with 4 legs, 3 legs, dogs who can see and even dogs who are blind
FEATURED TEAM STORY
Diane’s Story - When a friend asked her to join the PHP board of directors 20 years ago, Diane said “Yes!” without missing a beat. She could easily see the value of a… Read The Full Story
INFORMATION FOR OUR PETS HELPING PEOPLE’S
CERTIFIED PET THERAPY TEAMS
WHY DO OUR TEAMS MATTER?
- Their desire to have their dogs help others aligns with our mission to help others
- Each handler/pet team brings unique skills to share their kindness and affection
- Ex: Performing tricks, snuggling, playing ball, listening or just being close
- Unconditional love and acceptance is common through all
- Handlers facilitate all that happens and play an integral role in the interaction
- maintain awareness of safety procedures
- advocate for their dogs
- monitor and direct the visit
To learn more about the criteria to be considered for a therapy dog, visit our Training Page.
To see where our teams’ visit, visit our Partners Page.
GROUP VISITS – WAGGIN’ TAILS AND COMFORT PAWS
Waggin’ Tails (WT) and Comfort Paws (CP) visits are opportunities for teams to come together to share their dogs as part of a group.
Our Waggin’Tails group puts on “shows”for individuals of all ages and needs. Each show is tailored to meet the unique needs of our audiences. All shows include a bit of education, some story-telling, demonstrations of therapy dog required behaviors, and some tricks. All shows end with everyone’s favorite part – individual dog visits with each person in the audience and some songs.
Comfort Paws visits are with teams that visit with larger groups of people without the “show.” Some typical CP visits are stress-relief events at schools/universities, businesses and special events such as Petfest, Dog Days at Drexel Square, Barktoberfest, etc.
If you are interested in a Waggin’ Tails or Comfort Paws visit at your facility, give us a call at 414-393-1111 or petshelpingpeople@att.net.
All events are listed on our PHP Calendar – CLICK HERE FOR THE CALENDAR: https://petshelpingpeople.org/calendar/
