Irish Therapy Dogs

On our trip to the Nursing Home Ireland Conference back in November we met the Irish Therapy Dogs Team. We were very impressed with the service that Irish Therapy Dogs offers to patients of Nursing Homes across Ireland. As big dog lovers here in Clarity we think it is a great idea because we know the happiness dogs can bring to our lives. There is a lot of research to show how animal assisted therapy can reduce loneliness and help a patient to relax. This has many benefits for the patients, the nurses and care staff who are working and living in the nursing homes and residential centres. And above all a friendly hello from a trusted canine can bring a HUGE smile to anyone's face!

What are Irish Therapy Dogs?

Irish Therapy Dogs was founded in 2008 by a group of people with the same interest in the use of pet therapy for the supply of comfort and companionship to people in long-term or daily residential care. It is a registered charity aimed at providing a pet therapy service on a national basis. A therapy dog is defined as “a dog that is trained to provide affection, comfort and support to people, often in settings such as hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, libraries, hospices, or disaster areas”. Irish Therapy Dogs has a team of volunteers who take regular weekly visits to nursing homes and day care centres with their lovely dogs. They have a team of over 270 volunteers and their dogs who take an hour out of their week to visit the nursing home or residential centre with their dog.

So what do you need to become a volunteer:

• Be 18 years or older
• Dedicate yourself to a weekly one hour visit to a nursing home or care centre
• Have a caring and thoughtful nature
• Have awareness and sensitivity
• Be capable of carrying out visits in a happy and discreet manner
• Respect confidentiality
• Keep control of your dog
• Successful Applicants’ pay a yearly membership fee of €30

The dog requirements are:

• The dog can not be a restricted breed for example:

   - Terrier
   - American Pitbull
   - Bull Mastiff
   - Doberman Pinscher
   - English Bull Terrier
   - German Shepherd (Alsatian).
   - Japanese Akita
   - Japanese Tosa
   - Rhodesian Ridgeback
   - Rottweiler
   - Staffordshire Bull Terrier
   - Cross-breed of these dogs

• Be one year or older
• Be house trained
• Be vaccinated and preventively treated for parasites
• Have a neat appearance
• Be friendly, gentle, confident, patient and at ease in any situation
• Enjoy human company and be happy to be petted and handled

To read more about The Irish Therapy Dogs team, click here.