Wonderful First Experiences

 Hello!

Mr. Lee and Cooper

So far, this has been the most eventful week working with Hand In Paw. As I mentioned, TVA's (therapy visiting assistants) are required to attend two shadow visits and a Pet Screening before they attend the big workshop starting in October. I went to one of my shadow visits Thursday morning at Hall-Kent Elementary School for the Sit, Stay, and Read program. I enjoyed every minute of it. The school elects which children will participate in the program based on various needs. Some children are shy and read really quietly, some children read at a slower pace than the children their age, some may have dyslexia, and so on. On the top right is a picture of Mr. Lee and his therapy dog, Cooper. What a great team! The children brought heir books and read to Cooper one on one. The way the children warmed up to Cooper was absolutely amazing, and Cooper was just as thrilled, if not more, than they were to be listening to their stories.

Barbara and Molly

Also, this morning, I attended the Pet Screening. Just as a quick reminder, this screening serves as a way to determine the temperament of the prospective therapy dogs. The screening contained 16 different areas that the dog must pass in order to continue and be certified with the Delta Society. The categories that I was actively involved in included Walking Through a Crowd and Reaction to Distraction. My favorite, however, was Reaction to Another Dog. When the prospective therapy dog comes into contact with another team, he/she is not to cross the midline of the handler and stay by the side of his owner. Molly, a Hand In Paw therapy dog, served as the neutral dog in the pet screenings . A picture of Molly and her owner, Barbara, is provided on the bottom right.
After three hours of helping with the screenings, I found out my last fifteen minutes that I had been sitting beside the founder of Hand In Paw, Beth Franklin (bottom left), the ENTIRE time. I immediately became shocked, excited, and to be honest, a little nervous. Although short on time at this point because I had made arrangements immediately following the screening, I asked her about what inspired her to discover such a great organization. She began to recap her journey starting from an associate director at the humane society taking well-mannered dogs to nursing homes to becoming an evaluator of the Delta Society. "I loved it," she said. To my surprise, she then worked at UAB School of Nursing in the senior development program for two and a half years! Wow! What a small world we live in. It is truly incredible the way Mrs. Franklin took her passion and transformed it into one of the most respected and most appreciated nonprofit organizations in the south. 

 Beth Franklin

 This has been an incredible week for me with many more to come! As far as my quality control rubric, Liz (associate director) and I spoke this past week and that is definitely underway. Hopefully, I will be able to update you guys more on this aspect next week! Stay tuned...