K9 Angels Pets for Therapy

It’s been a while since we’ve talked about our K9 Angels Pets for Therapy program, if you haven’t heard about this great program you can read about it in a previous blog post here.

We designed the K9 Angels pets for therapy program in partnership with the charity Boystown to help improve the literacy skills and self esteem of disadvantaged children.

The program is going great and the feedback from our super K9 Angel volunteers, the kids and the staff at Boystown has been fantastic.

One afternoon a week we have one of our wonderful K9 Angels volunteers and their dog go to Boystown to spend time with a group of children there.  Activities may include getting the children to read to flashcards to the dog, which removes the threat of judgement that they can feel when reading to their peers or teachers.

“This programme can make a difference for these kids because by having the dogs there we are giving them a reason to engage with us to improve their reading and other skills. It’s something new for them and they love it! For us, being able to make such a valuable contribution with our  K9 best friends is a rewarding experience”.

While we have a number of great volunteers on board, we are wanting to expand the program and we need some more Angels.

Steve says, “The kind of dogs that are most suitable for this work would be dogs that are well balanced in temperament, not nervous of children or noise, and would be happy to relax quietly on a mat while a child sits next to them. If your dog has not been mat or crate trained before but meets the temperament requires for therapy work, we can assist you with training these behaviours and other skills.”

Volunteers need to be available during week day afternoons, even if it is just one week day per month or fortnight. Every dog participating needs to be given an official temperament test by Steve to be eligible for the program. There are no costs associated with the training or assessment of any dogs.

If you’re interested but not sure of your dog will suit, by all means send us an email and we can help you decide, if your dog attends the Temperament Assessment but is not suitable, no harm done.

If you would like to speak to a K9 Pro Angel and ask questions, we can arrange that too!

This is a volunteer not for profit venture by K9 Pro – The K9 Professionals

If you are interested in volunteering in the K9 Angels Pets for Therapy Program send an email to info@k9pro.com.au and we can start the process!

A few hours a month can make a real, life changing difference to some kids that really need our help.