Scheduled Visits - Week of May 2nd

There are three scheduled Lend A Paw events for this week:


Sunday, May 1st @ 10:30 AM:
Oakview Assisted Living Facility

3557 Campus Drive

Thousand Oaks, CA
We visit two groups at this facility and the residents really enjoy our visits. We can take up to 4 Therapy Teams and we usually meet outside the front entrance. We can really use some small dogs that are able to visit with patients who are in wheelchairs, or cannot bend over or move their arms to pet the dogs! Jennifer Shoemaker 805-231-1911




Monday, May 2nd @ 11:30 AM:
USC Stress Management Fair
USC Health Science Campus
1441 Eastlake Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90033
USC Grad students have asked us to bring some Therapy Dogs to participate in their Stress Management Fair. We can bring up to 6 therapy teams. Please let me know if you can make it. Thanks! Sharon




Wednesday, May 4th @10:30 AM:
Edelman Childrens Courthouse
201 Centre Plaza Drive
Monterey Park, CA
Imagine spending a day at the Courthouse waiting to speak with judges and attorneys about your life. Now that's stress! Please come with Lexee and Chellee to add a little comic relief for good kids ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old. It'll put a smile on their faces and yours too! We need 6 Therapy Teams maximum for this visit. Be sure to bring your $5 parking ticket inside with you so they can validate it.

Scheduled Visits - Week of April 24th

There are 3 scheduled Lend A Paw visits for this week:

Wednesday, April 27th @ 10:30 AM:
Santa Clarita Adult Day Health Care Center
22903 Soledad Canyon Rd
Santa Clarita, CA
Our actual time is 10:45 AM, the 4th Wednesday of each month. Please come visit 20-40 physically and/or mentally challenged adults and bring smiles to their faces.  Plenty of people who want/need licks and love! Hope some of you are willing to make the drive to help Chellee and Lexee with this visit!

Saturday, April 30th @ 10:30 AM:
Jewish home for the Aging / Eisenberg Village
18855 Victory Blvd.
Reseda, CA
Please join Bailer and Andy for this monthly visit to the JHA / Eisenberg Village. We meet at the parking lot benches 5 minutes early. If you have any questions, fell free to contact Andy at: 818-458-3822.

Sunday, May 1st @ 10:30 AM:
Oakview Assisted Living and Nursing Facility
3557 Campus Drive
Thousand Oaks, CA
We visit two groups at this facility and the residents really enjoy our visits. We can take up to 4 Therapy Teams and we usually meet outside the front entrance. We can really use some smaller dogs who can sit on patients' laps, for those in wheelchair, who cannot bend over or cannot use their arms to pet the dogs! If you have questions, contact Jennifer Shoemaker at: 805-231-1911.

Scheduled Visits - Week of April 18th

There are 4 Lend A Paw events scheduled for this week:

Tuesday, April 19th @ 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM:
USC Stress Management Day
1026 W 34th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90089
The grad students at USC Occupational Therapy program have invited our Pet Therapy Teams to come to this Stress Management Fair in order to provide stress relief to the students and faculty, as well as to promote our program. Hope you can make it!

Wednesday, April 20th @ 10:30 AM:
Bubbe & Zayde's Place
3317 Oakhurst Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
This is a 5 resident retirement home in Culver City. We need a minimum of ONE therapy team to carry out this visit which is so helpful at lifting up the spirit of these individuals.
*This site must have a lead volunteer. It can be the only volunteer if necessary. Please contact Sharon@k9sonly.com  if you can help.

Wednesday, April 20th @ 1:30 PM:
New Horizons - Classroom Visit
15725 Parthenia Street
North Hills, CA
This is our second visit of the month to this school and workplace for developmentally challenged adults. We stop a few minutes inside each classroom in order to give the hard working students a break. Because we are visiting smaller groups, we only need 3 therapy teams to carry out this visit.

Friday, April 22nd @ 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM:
LA MISSION
310 Winston Street
Los Angeles, CA
We were such a hit at Christmas Eve that the Mission has asked us to come back and visit with the homeless during their Good Friday event. Please let Sharon@k9sonly.com know if you can go. We will be carpooling again, so meet at K9s Only Tarzana at 9am.

Scheduled Visits - Week of April 11th

There are 5 scheduled visits for Lend A Paw this week:

Tuesday, April 12th @ 1:00 PM:
Jewish Home for the Aging / Grancell Village
Taper Building
7150 Tampa Ave
Reseda, CA
The residents of this facility always enjoy a visit from their furry friends. Please join Gayle and Wickett for this visit. We will meet 5 minutes early at the large patio.

Wednesday, April 13th @ 11:00 AM:
ECF Kayne Eras Center
5350 Machado Road
Culver City, CA
Lend A Paw is SO popular at this school. AT our last visit we had over 40 kids over a one hour period! We need as many LAP Teams as possible. We've seen miracle occur, especially with the non-verbal autistic kids. So please join us for this exciting visit! There is ample parking at the Pavillions lot across the street.  If you have any questions, contact Jane at: 310-963-2272.

Wednesday, April 13th @ 12:00 PM:
New Horizons - Lunchtime Visit
15725 Parthenia Street
North Hills, CA
This is our first visit of the month to this school and workplace for developmentally challenged adults. With the wonder of children, these loving individuals look forward to hugs and kisses form their furry friends. We need at least 4 therapy teams to carry out this visit. Please come and join Ash and Lisa.

Saturday, April 16th @ 8:30 AM:
Ann Douglas Center, LA Mission
Meet at K9s Only
18603 Topham ST.
Tarzana, CA
We will be meeting Moms and children during their Mommy and Me Time. We can only take 3 teams and 1 car to this event, so sign up quickly. We meet at K9s Only at 7:45 AM so we can be at the center at 8:30 AM. We should return around 10:30 AM.

Saturday, April 16th @ 10:30 AM:
Jewish Home for the Aging / Eisenberg Village
18855 Victory Blvd.,
Reseda, CA
Please join Bailer and Andy for our regular visit to the JHA. Please meet us at the parking lot benches 5 minutes before the visit. If you have any questions please contact Andy at: 818-458-3822.

Stessful Situations

        To become a member of the Lend A Paw program, a dog must have an even temperament and be eager and willing to meet new people. Therapy work cannot be forced on a dog. He or she must look forward to interacting with people. It is also important for handlers to realize the level of stress placed on the animal and how much each dog can tolerate. After all, we are asking our dogs to interact with strangers at the most intimate level. During social interactions, individuals maintain a certain degree of separation between each other and respect the other individual's personal space. Therapy dogs are no different. They also have a personal territory and within this territory are zones. According to Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara and Kris Butler in Handbook on Animal Assisted Therapy:

This was definitely not a comfortable situation for Lexee!

The zone at which an individual is first aware of another is the public zone. From there one enters the social zone. Although it is permissible to be in another's social zone, it is the non-verbal communication between the individuals that will make the situation either intimidating or acceptable. Moving still closer brings an individual into another's personal zone, which can read as a sign of favor or manipulation. Closer than the personal zone is the intimate zone, which includes [physical] contact.

It is very important to realize that our therapy dogs are asked to interact with people in this last zone. And when the barrier of this intimate zone is crossed, the dogs will signal how they feel about it. Handlers should therefore recognize these signals, interpret them and respond accordingly to ensure a positive experience for both the dog and the individual. Maureen MacNamara and Kris Butler continue with:

Touching is an integral part of almost every animal-assisted interaction and while no one would suggest that people stop petting animals during animal-assisted interactions, it is crucial that the animals are allowed to seek out this intimate contact. Animals that obediently tolerate an invasion of their intimate space may become overwhelmed or stressed.

So many little hands but only one little dog!

Small dogs are particularly vulnerable to having their intimate zone crossed; in a typical Lend A Paw visit, a person or group of people will lean over to pet and will often try to pick up a little dog. This behavior resembles the behavior of predators who hover over, swoop in, and grab their prey. Often times, our dog's body will respond intuitively and signal a certain level of discomfort. The handler should recognize the signs and be ready to respond to their animal to ensure positive interactions.

Knowing how a dog will react to certain situations is important and recognizing signs of discomfort or stress (however subtle they might be) is crucial. Some appropriate responses to signs of stress include communicating with the individuals you are visiting and letting them know what makes the dog uncomfortable and what the best ways to interact are. Another appropriate response is to say something like, "Fido needs to take a bathroom break." It is always acceptable to take a break from a visit to give your dog a chance to recover or take a breath. The dogs will appreciate and enjoy a little space and fresh air, and will be more confident when returning to the visit. If you have questions, or need more ideas on how to handle stressful situations, email Sharon@k9sonly.com.

Story and photos by Nathalie Seguin.

Scheduled Visits - Week of April 4th

There are two scheduled Lend A Paw visit for this week:

Wednesday, April 6th @ 10:30 AM:
Edelman Childrens Courthouse
201 Centre Plaza Drive
Monterey Park, CA

Imagine spending a day at the courthouse waiting to speak to judges and attorneys about your life. Now that's stress! Please join Lexee and Chellee to add a little comic relief for good kids ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old. It will put a smile on their faces and yours too! We need a minimum of 4 Therapy Teams, and can take a maximum of 6 for this visit. Be sure to bring your $5 parking ticket inside with you so they can validate it. If you have any questions, please contact Chellee.

Sunday, April 10th @ 10:30 PM:
Aegis Assisted Living
10801 Lindley Ave
Granada Hills, CA

This is a wonderful assisted living facility which specializes in caring for individuals with memory loss. The folks really love to get their monthly hugs and kisses from the dogs and we need at least 3 therapy teams to carry out this visit.

*This site MUST have a lead volunteer for this visit, otherwise we will have to cancel. Please contact Sharon if you can help.