Welcome!

Welcome to the Lend A Paw Blog!
Where you can find up to date information about the program, current LAP teams and LAP therapy dogs candidates, scheduled visits, and much more.
Lend A Paw is committed to enhancing the lives of individuals experiencing physical, mental, emotional or life challenges by providing therapy dogs to offer warmth, compassion, unconditional love and a healing environment. The program is designed to rescue dogs from the shelter and train them to be therapy dogs. Individuals are also invited to join our LAP team with their own dogs provided the dogs have the required obedience and temperament for therapy work.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Scheduled Visits - June 2012

Here is a calendar of all Lend A Paw scheduled visits for the month of June 2012. Click on an event to see details about the visit. Choose the event(s) you wish to participate in and contact the Leader of the site to RSVP.

Friday, May 18, 2012

A Rock Star Hit!

Eisntein is a 5 1/2 year old Cavalier King Charles
Donna Beirne is a dedicated volunteer and dog lover. She and her Cavalier King Charles, Audrey,  are regulars at the Jewish Home for the Aging / Grancell Village. And recently, Donna took over as Leader for this site. As if this is not enough, Donna also fosters dogs from the Cavalier Rescue USA. 
One of her foster, Eisntein, a 5 1/2 year old purebred Blenheim color, is a loving dog, full of energy who wants to make friends and explore wherever he goes. He quickly won Donna's heart and her husband became quickly attached. So they decided to adopt him.
Donna states: "I thought he would be great on therapy visits with all that energy and love to give.  I worked on his basic obedience commands and saw he would be a natural for therapy outings.   I finally brought him to the Lend A Paw Certification at the end of April 2012." And of course, Einstein, aka, "Ein" passed with flying colors!
Ein gave kisses to everyone!
Ein’s first visit was to New Horizons, a school and workplace for the developmentally challenged adults. The folks at New Horizons have a lot of energy and love the Lend A Paw teams, especially the new ones! So, naturally, Ein was a Rock Star hit! Donna says: " Ein was having fun greeting so many new friends,  granting requests to have his photo taken with all and gave kisses to everyone who came by for some puppy love. Everyone wanted to get his or her picture taken with Ein and we tried to accommodate everybody."
When asked about her other therapy dog, Audrey, and whether she will continue to take her for visits, Donna tells me that: "She will continue her therapy dog visits too.  Audrey has a bit of a lower energy level and tires more easily than Ein and is definitely more selective on handing out doggie kisses.  She still loves going to her regular twice-monthly visits at Jewish Home for the Aging at Grancell Village and is always excited to see her red vest come out.  I would love to see both of them go out on a visit together sometime.  Maybe after Ein gets more visits under his vest, he can go out with another LAP handler and I can take Audrey on the same visit. "

Everyone wanted their picture taken with Ein!
That sounds like a great plan! Thank you Donna for your wonderful work!

Story by Nathalie Seguin, photos courtesy of Donna Beirne.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Another "practice" for Roxie

Last November, we wrote a story about Roxie, a beautiful Golden Retriever who is being raised to become a therapy dog. Roxie will turn 1 year old on May 21st and Sharon Newman, her owner and handler, states that she is growing and maturing beautifully and that her training is progressing well. She hopes that Roxie will pass her Lend A Paw Certification in July. But in the meantime, she tries to expose Roxie to as many people and situations as possible. Here is her account of a wonderful encounter:  
Today we were walking our usual route through my neighborhood and, once again, came upon a resident of the Headway House, a residence for adults with brain traumas. A gentleman was sitting outside in his wheelchair waiting for the arrival of the Access Paratransit van to give him a ride. We stopped to visit with him. The man, who introduced himself as Kim, immediately reached out to pet Roxie. She greeted him calmly but with enthusiasm. Kim's face lit up as he petted her and he became very talkative. It was very evident from his reaction how much joy and comfort our dogs bring to people. Kim was sitting and staring off at nothing, tuned out to the world around him. The moment Roxie approached him, his world came alive again. It's what we've all witnessed and why we continue to volunteer as therapy dog handlers.

Photo and Story by Sharon Newman

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Scheduled Visits - May 2012

Here is a calendar of all Lend A Paw scheduled visits for the month of May 2012. Click on an event to see details about the visit. Choose the event(s) you wish to participate in and contact the Leader of the site to RSVP.