What does a retired educator with two people-loving, energetic golden retrievers do with her spare time to give back to society? Sharon Raymond has found her answer by becoming a therapy dog handler with the help of nine-year-old Splash and three-year-old Snickers, her two golden retriever ‘assistants.’
Encouraged by a friend who also has golden retrievers, Raymond decided to pursue the training required to become certified 7½ years ago with Splash, when Splash was only 18 months old. Raymond did the basic obedience training herself, then took a general knowledge on-line test of dog reactivity. Upon passing that, and with coaching help from a service dog training facility in Tucson, Raymond signed up for an evaluation at the Tucson Medical Center. She repeated the process for Snickers 2 ½ years ago when Snickers was 18 months old.
The dogs must know 21 different commands as well as be desensitized to rough petting, hugs and other possible stimuli they may encounter while bringing comfort to the people to whom they are exposed.
The certification process is conducted by Pet Partners, a national organization based in Belleview Washington with certified testers throughout the United States. They evaluate each dog and handler team. After correctly completing all the exercises, the team receives a certificate and is then able to visit hospitals, schools, hospice centers, jails and trauma centers to help bring comfort to those in need.
Along with her hospital visits, Raymond is also involved at an elementary school in Sierra Vista where she and her dogs help with the K – 3 children who are having reading comprehension difficulties. She brings along brushes, pillows, blankets and dog treats and goes to a quiet room with each child for 30 minutes. The children can brush and pet the dogs. This helps them to relax, which in turn enables them to better understand what they are reading.
Raymond gives the children some alone time so that they feel safe and free to talk to the dogs. Frequently, she mentioned, the child will tell the dogs about a problem at home that they are afraid to share with adults. Awareness of these issues has brought better understanding for the teachers working with these children.
Raymond, Snickers and Splash all sport a special ‘uniform’ when on the job. Raymond has a special shirt that she is required to wear as a handler. Snickers and Splash each have a dog vest, complete with merit badges that they have received as they have progressed in their training, indicating their time served and their expertise in perfecting certain special tasks.
Raymond feels that this has been a very fulfilling and interesting endeavor and she has found a wonderful way to help in the community. It is a great way to assist others and bring comfort to many, many people.