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Four-Legged Heroes at Home in Round Hill |
By SUSANNE KAHLER
News aRound the Hill
There’s an academy for superheroes in Round Hill. The students don’t
talk or dress in the usual fashion and they kind of walk funny, on four
legs instead of two. But they are superheroes just the same—of the
canine kind. School-aged children attending Round Hill and Mountain View
Elementary Schools know them by name and breed.
The Golden Retrievers are part of the Educational-Animal-Assisted
Instruction Program of the non-profit paws4people foundation. Round Hill
resident Terry Henry is Chairman and Executive Director.
The idea was Henry’s then 12-year-old daughter Kyria’s, to “help people
who don’t have a dog.” The concept was refined after observing the
recuperative effects of pets on family members who had suffered the loss
of a spouse, compared to individuals in similar circumstances. The
animals seemed to shorten the grieving process.
Founded in 1999, the organization has grown from two volunteers with
three dogs to more than 100 volunteers with 70 dogs in five states. The
dogs have made over 89,000 educational contacts and 24,000 therapy
contacts. They have 13 private placement dogs with a combined total of
almost 50 years of service.
Teachers familiar with the program tell of small miracles taking place
daily.
“The program has provided a safe, non-threatening opportunity for
students to practice and enhance their overall motor and communication
skills,” said Carol Thomson, principal of Mountain View Elementary
School.
“Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces during each visit is
confirmation that the program works.”
The therapy dogs help with large motor skills and balance as the
children brush, walk and play with them. They help autistic and
non-verbal children find words they didn’t know they had. Children with
emotional and behavioral problems learn the importance of tolerance,
taking turns, and treating others with patience, kindness and respect.
“This program brings my daughter such joy, and is a very special part of
her life. I was truly overwhelmed at how the dogs touched not only my
daughter, but all the other children as well,” said Jeanine Perkins, the
mother of an elementary school student.
The dogs also visit nursing homes, hospitals, hospice and rehabilitative
facilities.
Paws4people places certified assistance dogs as companions in private
homes of mentally or physically disabled or terminally ill adolescents
and seniors. They open refrigerators, retrieve medicine, act as balance
stabilizers, and “read” written commands. Their potential is just
beginning to be recognized as voice synthesized technology is improved.
One day, laser- targeted commands may allow the severely handicapped to
better utilize the dogs’ skills.
The organization has begun paws4prisons, a collaborative effort in which
service dogs (affectionately called SlammerDogZ) are trained by inmates
of the federal women’s prison in West Virginia. The goal is to increase
the number of specifically trained “service”
 and
“educational assistance” dogs, while providing inmates the opportunity
to learn from and bond with an animal and gain marketable job skills.
In the drawing plans is “Riley Meadows,” a facility that will consist of
kennels, a K-9 training academy, a state-of-the-art veterinary hospital,
a special education academy, hospice inn, residences for paws4people
special needs staff-members, and senior assisted living and
rehabilitation facilities.
Paws4people hopes to not only enhance the lives of the humans they
touch, but the dogs the humans love and rely on each and every day. At
Riley Meadows, named for the Henrys’ dog, these amazing canine
superheroes will never be far away from the people who need them the
most, “touching hearts, changing lives.”
There are many ways you can help paws4people achieve their goals. Please
visit their website at
www.paws4people.org or mail inquiries to: Paws4people Foundation,
P.O. Box 491, Round Hill, VA 20142-0491. |
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