By Kaitlyn Clark
The Haldimand Press
CAYUGA—The Cayuga Library & Heritage Centre has been expanding its program offerings recently, including with the regular addition of furry friends from Therapeutic Paws of Canada (TPOC).
Nicole Selby, TPOC Team Leader for Haldimand County and Board Member for the Children’s Programs, was in attendance at the library on Thursday, November 14, 2019 with her Coonhound, Lucky. The program started nationally in 2002 as a free pet visitation program. The certified therapy teams now visit hospitals, retirement residences and long-term care facilities, adult day centres, community living centres, shelters, schools, and more. Locally, the program started in 2012 with Selby and her Doberman Pinscher, Moxy.
“I wanted a way to give back to my community in a meaningful way, and to be able to improve the lives of others. I also loved the idea of having a job that I could do with my dog,” said Selby on joining the program. “My favourite thing is seeing the joy on people’s faces, hearing the stories of how we made a difference in their lives, and the good feelings I get out of each and every visit. Our volunteers get just as much out of these programs as our clients!”
One of the original stops locally was Community Living Haldimand, which recently shifted their focus to get participants out of the Community Living Haldimand building more often for more interaction with community members. TPOC Haldimand was able to accommodate this with a new partnership at the Cayuga Library & Heritage Centre, setting up regular visits that Community Living Haldimand participants are able to join in on. This allows for all visitors that day to interact with the pets and take a look through both the library and museum collections. Selby added, “Anyone can come: young, old, everything in between. And it’s completely free!”
Information on upcoming times at the Cayuga Library & Heritage Centre can be found at haldimandcounty.on.ca under Services > Libraries > Adult Programs > Therapy Dog Visits.
Natalie McMillan took a break from her work to pet Lucky alongside Nicole Selby of Therapeutic Paws of Canada.
“Therapeutic Paws of Canada is a wonderful organization to work with. We are always looking for new members that could work with our team because the demand for our services far outweighs the resources we have. We are looking for people with cats or dogs over one year of age that are friendly, calm, and safe with an owner/handler who is friendly, available to visit on a regular schedule (hours are flexible), and who wants to be involved in their community. We will be holding an evaluation in January looking for new team members,” said Selby. There are currently nine volunteers/dogs in the Haldimand program. Those interested in joining can visit tpoc.ca for more information. Haldimand residents looking to apply can contact Selby at tpocpaws4healing@gmail.com or 905-869-1348.
TPOC has six types of programs. Paws With Love to Share was created to “bring smiles to seniors’ faces every week”, such as at nursing homes and hospitals. Paws to Read is offered at library and primary schools for children to read to a pet, which builds their confidence and desire to read, without them worrying about judgement from their audience. PAWS Room is offered for older students to reduce stress levels during exam time and to reduce feelings of loneliness for those away from home for school. Paws-Abilities works with those with mental, physical, emotional, and trauma-induced disabilities; it is tailored to each individual’s needs. Paws for Comfort is designed to offer emotional support, including everything from survivors of domestic abuse, those who have lost their home to fire, grief/loss support, school crisis support, and more. Finally, Support Pets also offers emotional support, but in this case accommodates specific requests such as to support a child in a courtroom during proceedings.
“The main benefits of pet therapy are both physical and mental health and wellness. For example, scientific studies have shown that even short contact with a therapy pet can lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, decrease pain, increase feelings of wellbeing and social interaction, as well as many more,” said Selby. “Beyond the scientific evidence, it is easy to see the benefits by the smiles on faces, the laughter, and the conversation.”
