Mochi, the "unofficial" therapy dog
So, today I took Mochi to the school my husband works at. We went to three different classrooms, all of them which had kids that are mentally challenged or just plain "bad" (behavioral issues) kids.
I was just going there (with permission of the principal and teachers of course) to see how Mochi would even react but because he did soooo well, I actually ended up staying longer. The kids LOVE Mochi! But, because they had to sit still in order to feed him a treat and pet him, they actually managed to do that for about half an hour. It was amazing. There was one girl with Down Syndrome and she actually went up to the dog to pet him and hug him and Mochi didn't care! He didn't move. He just let that girl come up to him when he would normally try to take off/escape somehow.
Since he did so well, I will go back there maybe next week :D
It was really wonderful to watch kids that are normally not really able to react to anything whatsoever, lighten up!!
I was just going there (with permission of the principal and teachers of course) to see how Mochi would even react but because he did soooo well, I actually ended up staying longer. The kids LOVE Mochi! But, because they had to sit still in order to feed him a treat and pet him, they actually managed to do that for about half an hour. It was amazing. There was one girl with Down Syndrome and she actually went up to the dog to pet him and hug him and Mochi didn't care! He didn't move. He just let that girl come up to him when he would normally try to take off/escape somehow.
Since he did so well, I will go back there maybe next week :D
It was really wonderful to watch kids that are normally not really able to react to anything whatsoever, lighten up!!
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I heard about an Akita Inu who shows who is a Therapy Dog. Glad to hear that Nihon Ken may be able to do this. Keep it up, it is so good for the children. Keep us posted.
She does reading with her big labrador at elementary school, and takes her fluffy beagle-sheltie mix Cody to prison. (I find this ironic, especially since of the two prisons they visit, Cody prefers the maximum security one.) We told our daughter that Cody is teaching bad guys to be gentle and good again.
That's great about Mochi - keep up the good work!
Seeing that he did so much better than I expected, I will definitely do this again, probably next week. I mean seeing the kids that normally would not react to anyone or anything react to your dog is just... priceless! it's good for Mochi too. Can't socialize enough ;)
The only thing that really confused him was one of the kids that wouldn't stop screaming and I mean, screaming, not just being loud. But, even when he was a bit further away from that boy, he sat down and just watched for the most part trying to figure out what's going on with that boy.
Oh, our local animal control is right next to the county prison. The prisoners are actually the main people that take care of the animals in that shelter.
Yes, I'd say with proper training and socialization, a Nihon Ken can definitely make a good Therapy Dog.
It is absolutely amazing the personality change a dog can make in a person. Especially those with learning/behavioural disabilities.
I agree that Nihon Ken can be great therapy dogs, with training, and can do a world of good even without special training. When we found Josephine (about 10-12 weeks old) my father-in-law was in the midst of a 2 year nursing home stay before he passed away. My husband was at the nursing home at least 1-2 times per day, sometime more. He had brought our former dog, Joe, (an old sedate doggie -about 10 years or so) to the nursing home many times to see "Grandpa Rudy", and kept it up with Josephine, even in spite of her young puppy antics. Surprisingly, even for being a young puppy she seemed to sense that she was among the older, fragile folks and would, on her own, tone down her behavior -- no jumping, etc. The residents and the staff loved having her come in, and she was always welcome. Steve did keep Josephine on-leash all the time, but Joe was able to handle it off-leash... It was always so fun to see the older folks "come alive" at the sight of a dog and most wanted to pet, loved the doggie "kisses", etc. Many would immediately begin reminiscing about their dogs that they were able to have at a different time of their life. Would definitely encourage as many as possible to put their pups to "work" in this way, if the dog can demonstrate an ability to handle it well and sense the level of energy appropriate to the situation at hand.
All you need to do is take the Therapy Dog test with Mochi. You don't need any training or classes before hand, they might require that you get your CGC (Canine Good Citizenship) though. I recommend you go take the test and it sounds like Mochi will pass with flying colors. You can get your TD certification, it's like $25 to go through the test.
You don't have to join an organization but sometimes it's just fun to be apart of one -smiles-. If you go through the link I'm giving you, they'll probably make you join before the evaluation.
Therapy Dogs International - Upcoming Tests
There may be other organizations or TD evaluators within your area, you can try searching the internet and see what comes up.
I didn't raise him as a puppy. As a matter of fact, the previous owners who had him until he was about 2 and a half years old, didn't do any training with him whatsoever. He has gotten so much better but I know there is work to do.
Visiting the school is good practice for the both of us though so I do have hope :D and he already did much better than I expected so there is still a good chance of him overcoming his fear of people approaching him. He is used to wheelchairs. He even jumped up on one yesterday on cue :D
So anyway, I won't give up. It is too rewarding to give up now :D
The school wants us again tomorrow yay!
Good luck at school tomorrow, Mochi!
We had the kids all lined up, gave them a treat and I taught them how to make Mochi "sit", then feed him the treat :) He seemed to like that exercise a lot more than having a bunch of kids hug him. Some of these kids are normally really "bad" (scream, run around, throw things, have other issues) and even they somewhat managed to be good :)
The teacher now tells them that if they are good during the week, Mochi will come back to visit hehe ;)
I did use a halti today, mainly because I have more control over him that way. Since he still needs a lot of conditioning/counter conditioning, etc. I didn't want to take any chances.
We'll probably go back there next week. We're both exhausted today but happy :)
1. No running up to the dog.
2. Stand in line to pet the dog.
3. Only one person touching the dog at a time, etc.
If this is going to be a weekly event, she should keep it up on the wall and refer to it before Mochi shows up. When children create their own boundaries and rules, they are more apt to follow them.
(Sorry I work with troubled youth and used to work in school settings. I had to put that in.)
Oh, and go Mochi! You're giving me some hope on the Nihon Ken Therapy Dog pursuit!
There was one girl who was afraid of Mochi as soon as I removed the halti. I already explained to the kids that it is not a muzzle but I guess since it looks like one, that one girl felt a little safer with Mochi wearing it?
Other than Mochi being a little more stressed today, he was really good and sat for each child (for a treat of course ;)), did his tricks and the kids loved it :D
Petting the dog, one at a time, is what we do. It's what works best for all of us and it teaches the kids patience because they learn to wait until it's their turn ;) I guess it teaches them the lesson of sharing as well ;)