Therapy Dog Programs 2024 Update

Pawsitive Teams recently opened its Therapy Dog Prep School for 2025. And yes, January & April classes are already full! We will be starting our April 2024 term in a few weeks, with most of our trainers in tow at some point during the six-week term (Carol Davis, Charli King, Barbara McKown, Denelle Smalley, Ann Morgan, Jim Hodgdon, and Eileen Heveron). Prep School is officially a pre-requisite for attending the Facility Dog Academy and we are working hard to ensure that we can absorb these participants. So far so good!

Other 2024 plans for all things Therapy Dogs include increasing our Therapy Dog Program Volunteers by 10%, keeping our certified teams engaged in our current programs, and growing our cadre of site leaders / assistant site leaders. Several of our teams have retired but we are pleased to welcome our first two 2024 teams, Linda & Brinkley and Irene & Leilani.

We are continuing work with Margery Squier on creating technical support for volunteers so that they can upload forms and log their hours. Barbara will be visiting all of the sites this year and Deb will continue to guide new volunteers through the certification process, matching team skills to program needs.  We will also arrange to have two to three advanced training sessions throughout the year to develop skills and network with each other. Photos will be posted on our Facebook Group page, so stay tuned! – Barbara McKown