VT Helping PAWS (Pet Assisted Wellness Service)
VT Helping PAWS (Pet Assisted Wellness Service) is a therapy animal program at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
developed to provide animal-assisted therapy for local facilities. VT Helping PAWS provides an opportunity for VMRCVM students and their pets to
bring companionship and therapy to local facilities that benefit from human-animal interactions, such as:
- Nursing homes
- Assisted living centers
- Libraries
- Schools
While current participants are VMRCVM students and VMRCVM Veterinary Teaching Hospital employees, the goal of VT Helping PAWS is to eventually include members of the Virginia Tech and local community.
What's Involved?
- Volunteers and their dogs attend a training course to learn the obedience and skills needed for therapy.
- Following the course, dogs must pass the Canine Good Citizen certification test followed by a behavioral evaluation based on the requirements of Therapy Dogs International and Delta Society. Cats are also welcome to participate and must be evaluated before going to local facilities.
- After completing health and behavior evaluations, handlers and their pets will travel to local approved facilities to provide residents with the therapeutic benefits of animal interaction.
Contact Us
For more information or to get involved, contact one of the VT Helping PAWS co-chairs.
| VT Helping PAWS Officers | ||
| Co-Chair | Abby Kobylinski | abbyk21@vt.edu |
| Co-Chair | Katelyn Somers | krsomers@vt.edu |
| Co-Chair | Kelly Underwood | kdu3f@vt.edu |
| Resident advisor | Dr. Zenithson Ng | zenny@vt.edu |
| Faculty advisor | Dr. Bess Pierce | bpierce@vt.edu |
| Trainer | Rosie Higdon | http://www.hi-d-ho-dogtraining.com/rosie.html |
External Links
For more information on animal-assisted activities and the behavioral evaluation criteria used by VT Helping PAWS, please visit:
