Volunteering Your Dog

VOLUNTEERING with your dog

As a townie and owner of three working border collies, I have had to be creative to keep my active dogs mentally and physically fit. In addition to training and trialling in sheep and duck herding, I have added other dog sports and volunteering to our repertoire.

If you have a calm dog that is good with people, you may consider volunteering in your local community. I have a very mellow ten-year-old border collie, “Champ” who is excellent with people of all ages. We volunteer two to three days a week with four different programs:

Reading Dogs There are several organisations that aim to motivate and encourage students with reading difficulties. We are involved with the Animal Welfare League Queensland SHARE Reading Dogs program – which stands for ‘Special Human-Animal Relationships in Education’. This involves a dog and its handler working with students who need a little extra help with their reading in class. The program provides students with the opportunity to read aloud to the ‘reading dog’ for a set amount of time each week. Reading aloud to a ‘non-judgmental’ audience such as dog has shown to give students extra confidence and motivation, especially those who struggle with reading. A bond is encouraged between the child and the dog by having the same child read to the same dog each week. The dog allows children to gain confidence and self-esteem by providing his or her attention in an atmosphere free of criticism.

Such an environment allows children to feel less selfconscious, as dogs don’t worry if a child stutters or mispronounces a word.

Recently Champ was featured in “Pooches at Play” – see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6TsxDXIlfo&t=10s.

Similar programs have been implemented in schools in the United States, New Zealand and Europe and

have shown to be very effective in improving students’ negative associations with reading, increasing motivation levels, improving confidence and self- esteem as well as skill levels in reading aloud.

See www.awlqld.com.au/education/outreachprograms/share-reading-dogs-program/

Dogs at Assisted Care Facilities Many assisted care facilities are open to visits by wellmannered dogs. Champ is a therapy dog at one of our local facilities and our volunteer work involves us going around the common areas and visiting the residents in their rooms when invited to do so. Many of these people have been dog owners in the past and talking about dogs is a great way to involve them in conversation. Even residents who don’t speak can’t resist stroking Champ’s soft, luxuriant coat. It has also been shown that interacting with dogs has many benefits for elderly people.

See https://www.facebook.com watch/?v=855866931419290

Pet Education We are also involved with the Australian Veterinary Association’s Pets and People Education Program. AVA PetPEP teaches children and the community about responsible pet ownership, safety around animals, healthy living (pets and people), and promoting the welfare of animals.

In Queensland, AVA PetPEP works with AVA member veterinarians and a range of animal industry professionals to deliver interactive, highly visual and age-appropriate educational visits to primary schools across the state. Visits are free of charge and fully coordinated by the AVA PetPEP team. The AVA PetPEP team arranges all aspects of a PetPEP school visit. They coordinate visit requests from schools, organise presenters, and provide volunteers with presentation outlines, resources and full coordination of the visit program.

If you are interested in being part of AVA PetPEP in your local area, please contact the AVA PetPEP team: https://www.ava.com.au/contact-us/

Overcoming Dog Phobia Specific phobias affect approximately 10% of children, adolescents, and adults. They are among the earliest disorders to onset, occurring in children as young as three years.

Children with specific phobias are excessively afraid of certain situations or objects such as dogs, which can significantly interfere with their own lives and those of their families. Champ and I are part of a research team at Griffith University that offers free assessment and treatment for young children with dog phobia. The program, Pre-schoolers Overcoming Phobias (POP!) is part of a nationally funded treatment study being run by a team of international experts in child anxiety.

The program aims to learn more about the course of childhood fears in young children, and involves testing a novel, brief intervention for childhood phobias, which has proven effective in older children and with adults.

See: www.griffith.edu.au/griffith-health/school-appliedpsychology/research/pre-schoolers-overcomingphobias

If volunteering with your dog sounds like something for you, contact your local community volunteer coordinator to see what opportunities are available. Volunteering can reduce stress, combat depression, keep you mentally stimulated and provide a sense of purpose. Giving in even simple ways can help those in need and improve your and your dog’s health and happiness!

Sally Purbrick-Illek lives on the Gold Coast with her working Border Collies. She advises urban dog owners about the health and training of their working breed dogs via her Facebook page DogWorks@cityworkingdogs, https://www.facebook.com/cityworkingdogs