New Facility

I have a meeting tomorrow at R. who is trying to start a pet therapy program. Scarlett is preparing a presentation that will show them the steps we take in order to get our dogs Delta registered, so that they know how difficult and througoug the screening process is. I'm really excited about being a part of this because it is the first time that I've been involved in the set up process at any facility. I know that there is always a LOT of red tape that hospitals or facilities must go through in order to get approval for the dogs to visit. They have health department regulations, internal rules and concerns of their own regarding patient safety and cleanliness that have to be addressed. It's our role as an organization to support them in sorting through all of that and setting up some sort of a policy and procedures. We also hope to be able to place willing pet partner teams in place to visit once all of that is done. I will be the liaison for our ABLE (Animals Brighten Lives Everywhere) for R. so I'll be there to check in with the visiting teams and the facility to make sure that everything goes smoothly. Hopefully, Lucy and I will be their first visit!

I've still be working with Lucy and the crate issue...the hospital got a much more open crate and we're hoping that it will be the ticket. If you're lost on this, here's the background....

Oh--and did I mention that the last time Lucy and I volunteered she decided she was afraid of the dark plastic crate??? So, we've been in serious training mode. I have probably spent hours and hours training with her over the last few weeks trying to get her ready for our visit on Thurs. (She has to ride in a crate to go up the elevator at the hospital.) Most of you know that I do NOT fool around with my dog training, so I'm not playing with this one. We're determined to work through it!!! You should see me jumping around like an idiot and crawling in the crate with her....TONS of positive reinforcement is the key!! Luckily, I have a friend on back up for our visit on Thurs if I do not think that she is crate ready yet....the odd thing is that she jumped in just fine on our first visit! I just do not get it....

We did our visit following this and she did okay going up the elevator, but would not get into the crate to go back down....since then we've been on a break to continue to train through it. One trainer that I talked to said that her issue was the movement of the crate and the floor of it. I've gotten a really thick bathmat with a non skid bottom which seems to be helping. But, this big trial will be the new and improved crate and putting it all together at the hospital.

If it doesn't work out, I'm not heartbroken. There are plenty of places that we can go that do not require crates. Lucy is such a wonderful dog and does beautifully on all of her visits. I know of several other opportunities that I'd like to pursue, but I just don't have the time right now. If the hospital doesn't work out, then that would open up some time for other things.