About Therapeutic Paws of Canada
Therapeutic Paws of Canada™ is a registered charity offering free therapy pet visitations. Currently over 500 volunteers across Canada donate more than 100,000 hours of time annually to the various programs offered. Their mission statement is: “Enhancing quality of life and health through the animal/human bond”. This mission statement encompasses exactly why I chose my topic for this inquiry project. Animals have such an incredible and genuine way of enhancing well-being to humans and Therapeutic Paws of Canada is an incredible charity that does just that!
Video About Therapeutic Paws of Canada
Programs Offered by Therapeutic Paws of Canada
1: Paws With Love To Share™: This program allows therapy cats and dogs to visit senior facilities. “The petting and stroking of a pet help to calm the most agitated senior and stimulates wonderful conversations about the pet they once owned and loved” (TPOC).
2: PAWS Room: This program brings therapy cats and dogs to post-secondary schools and businesses! I would love to see this happen at College of the Rockies during exam time or even towards the end of the semester when stress and the loneliness of some students being away from their families kicks in!
3: Support Pet: These support dogs work with people who are a victim or witness of a traumatic experience. They also assist in the judicial system.
4: Paws for Comfort: This program is used to allow therapy dogs to provide individuals with emotional comfort. For example: first responders, hospice, school crisis support and much more. “Visiting therapy pets have been known to help lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and provide a calming support to those who are experiencing a traumatic event”.
5: Paws-Abilities: Therapeutic Paws of Canada works with other professionals to assist those with disabilities (physical, mental, trauma, ..). “Some visits focus on social interaction, some on physical motivation in physiotherapy, and some on attentiveness and calming”.
*** 6: Paws to Read ®: I am really excited about this program as I would love to introduce it into my classroom as a future teacher! It is a free program offered to libraries and schools where children are able to read to the dog in a relaxed space. “Teachers and parents have noted that there is a significant increase in the desire to read and the reading abilities of a child that has participated in a Paws to Read® program”.
Monica Vording
This week I was so fortunate to have Lauren Olson get me in contact with Monica Vording, an elementary teacher and volunteer for Therapeutic Paws of Canada (TPOC)! I was able to meet with her in person to discuss TPOC and how it works in Cranbrook Schools.
Here are the interview questions I asked her with her and her responses:
Monica also provided examples of the forms that we would see as future teachers if we wanted to incorporate Paws to Read in to our classrooms:
Paws to Read Program in Action:
Why are Therapy Dogs so Valuable?
This question is what makes me think of the topic of my project. I wanted to find out the positive impacts of animals on well-being. Monica Vording provided me this wonderful article called “How Dogs Help Us Heal”. If you have time it is an awesome resource to answer this question. I have Scanned a few pages I found helpful:
Are there any Therapeutic Paws of Canada Volunteers Locally?
The answer is YES! Therapeutic Paws of Canada has two Team Leads right here in Cranbrook, B.C! Here is the contact information for our area:
For my next blog post I am going to try and learn more about the opportunities here in Cranbrook with Therapeutic Paws of Canada and see if I can find out the positive impacts of animals on well-being in our own community to then share it with you!
Chelsea
References
Blake, C., & Vording, M. (n.d.). Interview with Monica Vording about Therapeutic Paws of Canada (TPOC). other.
Therapeutic Paws of Canada Website. Therapeutic Paws of Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://tpoc.ca
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