Therapy dogs comfort Strathmore

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

For the past three years, the volunteer-based Community Therapy Dogs Society (CTDS) and its canine companions have been putting their best paw forward within Strathmore by providing therapy dog services to several seniors’ homes and schools – a service that will be expanding.
Originally founded in 2013 before offering programs in March 2014, the charity – then called the Chestermere Therapy Dogs Society – started off with two dogs in one program, Learning Tails, at the Chestermere Public Library. Since then, the program has expanded into 11 different communities in southern Alberta, prompting the name change, and offers three distinct programs run by a volunteer base of 80 volunteers and 85 dogs.
“We’ve expanded so much, particularly in the last nine to 12 months,” said Steve King, founder and president of CTDS. “We’ve actually grown to the extent we’re currently in 32 schools, 11 seniors’ homes, two libraries and now two hospitals, and growing.”
He added that they work in communities as far north, south, east and west as Carstairs, Okotoks, Bearspaw and Strathmore, respectively.
King started the program five years ago after watching Jane Goodall’s When Animals Talk. One of the shows featured a group in the United States who was taking dogs into a library once a week and young children were reading to the dogs with amazing results. King describes it as “one of those light bulb moments” where he realized he could start a similar program locally using his dog training skills and connections at the Chestermere Public Library.
The CTDS now offers three different therapeutic programs to accommodate each group’s different needs. Listening Tails is geared towards young children who will spend their time reading to the therapy dogs to help build confidence and garner reading skills. The second program is called Visiting Tails where the dogs go into senior’s homes and hospitals to visit – a senior’s quality of life can improve when they interact with the therapy dogs. The last program implemented was Caring Tails which is a stress and anxiety program tailor-made to fit each situation. In this program, the dogs provide comfort to those dealing with stress and anxiety, people who have gone through a traumatic event, such as an accident, or those challenged in the short term, such as students during exam time.
“We actually have been in Wheatland Lodge and Sagewood senior homes for the last three years. We are in Brentwood School and are supposed to start in Wheatland Elementary as well, and we’re looking to get into the Strathmore Hospital in the fall,” said King. The programs have recently started in Peter Lougheed Hospital and South Health Campus in Calgary. King said Rocky View School Board trustees have said the programs are now considered an essential service in the schools.
“With the amount of stress and anxiety that kids are experiencing nowadays, this has become an essential program for the schools … there are all sorts of mental health benefits from being with dogs,” said King, who added that working and being with dogs can help the human body to release endorphins and positive energy as well as lower blood pressure and reduce stress levels.
The group is not just an outlet for participants of the programs, but for those also looking to work with their dogs and to help others. CTDS is always looking for more volunteers to help with their growing society. Interested volunteers go through an assessment process to assess their dog’s temperament, obedience, general condition and health, and volunteers themselves are screened. “We continue to grow. Because of the growth we have experienced we would like to have more volunteers … we try to accommodate and be as flexible as we can,” said King.
CTDS has also written a specific teaching pack for elementary schools, called Teaching Tails, on why therapy dogs are needed, what they do and the differences between therapy, service and companion dogs, complete with videos, books and work sheets.
“We are looking to develop a youth group and have them develop a course for the senior high school age and even potentially a college course at some point specifically on therapy dog work,” said King.
CTDS is volunteer driven and is a free service to groups and individuals seeking visits from the therapy dogs. Donations are welcome to help cover costs of insurance and supplies. CTDS is a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency.
More information about the society, programs, history, to sign up to volunteer or to donate can be found on their website at ctds.ca
For now, each of the 85 dogs currently volunteering are always excited to put on their CTDS bandana and get to work in the community by helping increase positive mental health one pet at a time.
“Wherever we can be of assistance to the community using our therapy dogs is really what our goal is,” said King.