The Good Dog Foundation

Animal assisted intervention program (aai) using trained and certified therapy Dog teams (canine plus human handler). Evaluating, training and certifying volunteers and their dogs who want to become therapy Dog teams to deliver animal assisted interventions to those suffering from trauma and stress from causes such as illness, disability or disaster. In a normal year, Good Dog annually trains and certifies up to 250 new volunteer therapy Dog teams (canine plus human handler). In addition, Good Dog requires annual re-certification to assure top quality. Over 250 teams a year are re-certified; fielding 600-700 active therapy Dog teams a year by scheduling hour long visits at some 300 partner facilities. However because of covid 19, The ability to train new volunteers and send volunteers on visits was reduced by one half to approximately a combined total of 500 and The number of volunteer hours was approximately 10,000. The facilities include hospitals, nursing homes, schools, librraries, veterans hospitals, trauma centers, and, on occasion, office environments under stress. The populations served include patients recovering from illness or surgery, children on The autism spectrum, seniors with dementia, veterans with ptsd, usniversity students under stress, and others. In a normal year, Good Dog schedules some 30,000 hours of volunteer therapy Dog team visits who, in turn, offer The emotional and physical benefits of (aai) to those in need, interacting with over 100,000 people a year. However because of covid 19, The number of scheduled voluntary therapy Dog team visits was 10,000 and The number of interactions was over 30,000 people a year. Good Dog also trains select volunteer teams in crisis response for national emergencies.finally, in response to numerous requests, Good Dog has begun a new program to train those who want to learn to work as a team with their Dog in a professional practice. These include teachers, psychotherapists, physical therapists and others. Good Dog's professional certification coursework expands on what's taught to vlunteers to address safely handling dogs in specific professional practice populations and environments (for example, working with a Dog to enhance outcomes for emotional/social learning skills or reading skills in an elmentary school). Good Dog is now a vendor for professional therapy Dog team training and certification for The nyc department of education.

Research and awareness- with major academic and scientific partners, Good Dog conducts research to assess The effects of therapy Dog interventions on specific populations and environments to help build an evidence base for The industry. Recent studies include: 1) a long term study with mount sinai medical center in nyc that assessed aait for patients with advance throat and neck cancers. The findings, published in The peer-reviewed journal of community and supportive oncology, proved that patients spending therapeutic time with therapy dogs during radiation and chemotherapy had improved emotional and social wellbeing vs those who didn't. Good Dog disseminated The findings broadly through online, broadcast and print media aimed at healthcare professionals and The general public. 2) a study with yale university parenting center examined The role of dogs to help lower stress in children. 3) a study with pace university department of criminal justice assessing The value of using specially trained Good Dog therapy teams as part of an in-prision parenting program for female inmates who will be reuniting with their minor children. 4) a survey with The university of Pennsylvania school of veterinary medicine providing The first-ever in-depth analysis of therapy Dog training methods on a national basis. In addition, goodd Dog regularly confers, asks for and/or shares information with scientists and academians including those associated with universities, pet care industry groups, human-animal interaction associations, and The national institutes of health.