Star Bright Therapy Dogs
Welcome to our new home on the Internet. Please check back often as we are adding content.
Star Bright Therapy Dogs is an organization which evaluates, tests, trains, qualifies and supports therapy dogs for the purpose of giving loving and empathic support in nursing homes, hospitals, psychiatric wards and other facilities.
Visiting people in nursing or other medical facility with our dogs can help people feel less lonely, and less depressed. Visits from dogs can provide a welcome change from routine, or the renewal of old friendships. People become more active and responsive both during and after visiting with animals. An animal visit can offer entertainment, or a welcome distraction from pain and infirmity. People often talk to the dogs, and share with them their thoughts and feelings and memories. These visits provide something to look forward to. Stroking a dog or cat can reduce a person's blood pressure. Petting encourages use of hands and arms, stretching and turning. The dogs make it easier for the resident and handler to talk. It gives them a common interest and provides a focus for conversation. Many people in hospitals or group homes have had to give up pet ownership and they miss the casual acceptance a pet gives them. A dog accepts people as they are and gives no attention to a persons age or physical ability. The benefits continue even after the visit. The visit leaves behind memories not only of the visit, but of past experiences. It offers something for people to share.
One of the biggest efforts by the Star Bright Dog teams is the Waggin' Tales Reading Program with the St Lucie County Library System. The Reading Program is designed to help children increase their reading skills. Common issues faced by many challenged children who, in addition to other problems, have had difficulty learning to read. These kids often have low self-esteem, lack confidence, find the tasks that they need to do to recover difficult, and are often intimidated and anxious in the presence of adults. These kids are able to relax and become less anxious when reading to a Star Bright Therapy Dog. They are able to focus on their reading, and find reading fun, which results in improved reading scores and improved self-esteem. This type of program demands a lot of the Star Bright teams. The handler and the dog must enjoy working with children – especially those who are at risk. The handler has to be flexible and ready to improvise; these visits are unstructured so the handler must be comfortable in such a setting. The handler must also be willing to learn basic techniques for teaching literacy, and, of course, should love to read. It is a must that the dog member of the team be comfortable with kids and not be stressed by crowds of children shrieking, petting, and hugging it. The noise level is often dramatic when working with children. Finally the animal needs to be able to lie quietly by the child while being read to.
Before a handler and dog team can participate in any of the Star Bright programs they must go through an extensive training and evaluation process. Once complete, the team is eligible to become members of The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. and will receive many benefits including primary accident and liability insurance within the US, therapy dog equipment, post card mailings and quarterly newsletters.
Chance, as in Second Chance, one of Star Bright's busiest therapy dogs was certified and started working in the Waggin' Tales Reading Program with the St Lucie County Library System and earned her BBTD Trrrific Dog award with over 300 hours since being certified in 2006. Chance never gives Dot a chance to stop. Going with Dot to work at the Library many days to cover Waggin Tale Visits. She is also involved in the work to expand Star Bright's presents in the St Lucie schools. Jeff Douglas, a Florida based Bright & Beautiful Evaluator, said; "Chance is on of the most solid dogs I have ever certified"
Feel free to browse around and we invite you to come back often. We will be adding content and photos regularly. Check out some early photos of Music, during her early Therapy dog training.
For more information about the Star Bright Therapy Dogs or the Waggin' Tales Reading contact Dorothy Blair our Training Director/Founder by email: dot@starbrightdogs.org
Support Star Bright Dogs by Supporting our Sponsors
To learn more about becoming a visiting Pet Therapist Team
