Newshounds: Guide Dogs for the Blind in the News!

Real Simple Feature: The Intrepid (Mommies with Guides)  – http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/seeing-impaired-mothers-group-00100000119851/

The BARk magazine: Guide Dogs for the Blind's Training Methods –  http://thebark.com/content/guide-dogs-blind

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences/The Oscars Video "There's Not Much To See: How Blind People Enjoy Movies" Featuring GDB Graduate Melissa Hudson – https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?v=10152174401071406&fref=nf

Bay Area Guide Dog Puppy Raisers Club: Information Video – http://vimeo.com/89060824

GDB graduate and U.S. Paralympic Skier Danelle Umstead – http://www.ksl.com/?sid=28752409&nid=

GDB Guide Dog Puppy Leanne AT&T Commercial – http://www.business.att.com/content/speeches/day-in-the-life.mp4

Guide Dog Glendale Wins Purple Paw Award – http://www.greatfallstribune.com/media/cinematic/video/7868537/guide-dog-wins-purple-paw-award/

Past GDB graduate Kristina Blum on the Katie Couric Show (first legally blind contestant with the genetic condition albinism to compete in the Miss California USA Pageant and ended up winning the Miss Congeniality Award) – http://katiecouric.com/videos/woman-with-albinism-redefines-beauty/

GDB Career Change Dog is Now a Certified Hearing Dog Helping Cedar Point Woman Find Freedom – http://www.jdnews.com/features/neighbors/new-leash-on-life-1.288761

Saying Goodbye to Tiki: Eighth Grader Max Angel Raises His First Guide Dog Puppy – http://ktvl.com/shared/news/top-stories/stories/ktvl_vid_12386.shtml

Residents in Portland Metro Area and Surrounding Regions Benefit from New Partnership – http://www.dovelewis.org/news-events/media-releases/residents-in-portland-metro-area-and-surrounding-regions-benefit-from-new/8336

GDB graduate Nancy Stevens featured in Ruffwear’s Video “My Dog is My” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8daoZQVwY

Five Houston Area Families Train Future Guide Dogs – http://www.khou.com/community/5-Houston-area-families-train-future-guide-dogs-246471491.html

GDB Career Change Dog Pauletta is Now a Therapy Dog –  http://www.news10.net/story/news/nation/2014/03/18/how-a-dog-is-making-a-big-difference-in-a-second-career-at-a-hospital/6566637/

Silicon Valley Bank and Guide Dogs for the Blind Team Up – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v-7JjPO4j8

GDB graduate Nancy Shugart’s TED Talk “Be the One to make it Happen” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9QghVlreno

GDB Career Change Dog Pesto Now a Therapy Dog Who Helped Change the Lives of Two Brothers – http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=378728

South County Safari Featuring the O.C. Coastal Puppy Raisers – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRlKTZixtT4&feature=share

GDB’s Collaboration with DoveLewis: Portland Area Canine Therapy Teams (PACTT) – http://www.oregonlive.com/forest-grove/index.ssf/2014/02/bridge_to_independence_therapy.html

GDB graduate Wayne Heidle Gives Inspiring Lecture with Guide Dog Poncho  – http://optometryadmissions.com/2014/03/06/pre-optometry-students-inspired-by-low-vision-rehab-assistant-professor-wayne-heidle/

GDB Program Dog Teton is a Newly Trained Therapy Dog Working with Veterans – http://www.garthstein.com/news/index.php#45

Volunteers Play Critical Role in Helping Train Service Dogs – http://tdn.com/news/local/volunteers-play-critical-role-in-helping-train-service-dogs/article_e62c1620-b7ce-11e3-a279-001a4bcf887a.html
 

 

Read More

PACTT Handler Workshop, Assessment and Orientation

By: Karyn Munford (GDB Dog Placement Coordinator - Oregon)

My dog Ceili and I are now ready to go to the next step in becoming a PACTT (Portland Area Canine Therapy Teams) team. The elements looked for in this phase are: handler skills, dog skills, and communication skills. All should be done with ease, confidence and a friendly demeanor. Treats and appropriate handling equipment such as head collars are encouraged if needed.

The Handler Workshop Phase and Assessment Phase
During the workshop, GDB Community Field Representative Deana Allen thoroughly explains and demonstrates necessary skills. The group teams (up to five teams) then each have an opportunity to practice and ask questions. After the workshop, a time and date is be set for the assessment phase. Criteria to be assessed includes overall dog grooming and appearance, basic obedience such as sit, down, and stay:

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice sitting

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice the command "stay"

Loose leash walking:

 

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice loose leash walking

Come:

 

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice the command "come"

Passing by a dog, noise sensitivity, ignoring a dropped item:

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice ignoring a dropped item

 

Petting by a stranger:

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice petting by a stranger

Petting by a circle of strangers:

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice petting by a circle of strangers

All criteria must be performed with the handler possessing the skill of multitasking between controlling and caring for their dog while engaging with the person they are visiting:

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) practice interacting with a patient on bed

The Orientation Phase
The orientation phase takes place at DoveLewis when teams are given a look at the opportunities and choices for pet assisted teams. They are guided by Kathy Loter, who is the Pet Assistant Team Coordinator at DoveLewis. They are then fit and equipped with the Pet Assisted Therapy team jacket and badge.

Karyn and Ceili (Golden Retriever) interact with Kathy Loter of DoveLewis

Read More

Rewarding and Fun With PACTT

By: Karyn Munford (GDB Dog Placement Coordinator - Oregon)

In the summer of 2013, Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) launched an exciting program in partnership with Dove Lewis for screening, evaluating and coordinating Portland area pet assisted therapy teams. Headed by Deana Allen at GDB and Kathy Loter at Dove Lewis, Portland Area Canine Therapy Teams (PACTT) fills a much needed void in assessing and coordinating teams. Also, PACTT is exclusive to GDB dogs. Deana said that GDB dogs are “tailor made” for therapy due to their training, socialization and breeding. The partnership consists of Deana and GDB overseeing the evaluation and assessment end, while Kathy coordinates the therapy teams through Dove Lewis. The process has three phases: the handler workshop, the assessment of skills for certification (both at GDB) and if the team passes, attendance in an orientation at Dove Lewis.

To start, a potential team will contact Deana to notify intent to use a career change dog or retired guide as a therapy dog. Then, Deana will send the applicant prescreen forms and schedule a date for an interview. She asks that potential teams be together at least four months, obtain a vet health exam and agree to program criteria and requirements as they are acting as representatives of both GDB and Dove Lewis.

As adoption counselor for GDB's Oregon Dog Placement department, I have always been in awe of the positive effect therapy dogs can bring to the community. Follow me in the upcoming blogs, as I take you, along with my cc dog, Ceili, through the fun and easy assessment, evaluation process and orientation into the rewarding world of Pet Assisted Therapy.

Read More

Making a PACTT

By Jim Price

Months of planning, organizing, training and coordination came together recently at the launch of a new therapy dog program for GDB career change dogs in the Portland, Ore., area. Known as PACTT (Portland Area Canine Therapy Teams), the program is a partnership between Guide Dogs for the Blind and DoveLewis Animal Hospital. Last week, the first PACTT team (therapy dog and handler) made its debut therapy visit.

On the GDB side, Community Field Representative Deana Allen coordinates the program. “DoveLewis had a therapy dog program for a while that was disbanded for a variety of reasons,” she said. “Their CEO Ron Morgan wanted to have another and this time he wanted to partner with GDB.”
It made a lot of sense to both organizations to tap into the GDB career-change community. “Many of the people who adopt career change dogs are GDB puppy raisers and they have a lot of skill,” Deana said. “They know their dogs very well, and the dogs are used to being out in public.”

Moon lends a little love to Juanita Murphy at Emeritus Senior Living in Vancouver, Wash., while handler Lisa Locke looks on 

Under the agreement with DoveLewis, GDB’s role is to train and evaluate the PACCT teams, while DoveLewis would take care of coordinating and scheduling site visits to places interested in having therapy dogs visit. “I'm very excited about the possibilities,” said Kathy Loter, DoveLewis’s animal assisted therapy program coordinator. “I have so many ideas of where we can take the program. There are the traditional hospitals, assisted living facilities, etc. but opportunities also exist in the court system, with organizations helping children, and in domestic violence situations. I'm scheduled to go on a ride-along with the county sheriff's department, for example. All I need are the teams. We plan to have 16 or 17 by the end of the year, and 70 by the end of next year.”

Janet Schultz and Salsa during therapy dog evaluation at the GDB dorm

To create the new program, Deana said, “I first had to determine what a therapy dog needed to do. I looked at other programs, actually became accredited through another program with my own dog, and made a few visits with teams to see exactly how they interacted with the people they visited.” She then developed the training curriculum and assessment criteria. The first class had four teams and the second one had three.

Lisa Locke and her dog Moon visit the Emeritus Senior Living’s recreation room, Vancouver, Wash.

Vic Bowden of Vancouver, Wash., went through the program with her yellow Lab, Sherbert. She and her husband raised seven puppies for GDB. “We adopted both our third and sixth dogs that we raised for GDB,” Vic said. “I discovered early on that my purpose isn't just to raise guide dogs. Every one of our dogs has changed people's lives in one way or another. I used to go almost every day to see my mother-in-law when she was in a nursing home and I just loved to see how much the people loved to see our dog. We visited from person to person to person. In addition, my husband taught an anger management class at our church and he would always take whatever dog we were raising. He said he could watch the people in the class who were so closed up and angry, just relax and calm down while petting a dog.”

Elaine Wilderman of Bethany, Oregon and her dog Clark are one of the teams recently certified to do therapy work

The first official PACCT visit was by Lisa Locke of Hockinson, Wash., with her yellow Lab, Moon. The duo visited the Emeritus Senior Living facility in Vancouver, Wash. Locke and Moon visited with several residents and Moon generated smiles wherever she went, especially from one particular resident named Juanita. “Bye Moon!” Juanita said. “I can't wait for you to come see me again.”

Here’s to many more visits and smiles in the future. It’s our PACCT!

Read More