Hattie Passed Her Assessment and is now a ………...

Pets as Therapy Dog We went last November for our assessment and received our confirmation certificate and ID cards today. I am so very proud of my girl for passing Can't wait to go into our local Nursing Home and Hospital Nursing Ward for old patients for out visits, hopefully Hattie will put some smiles on some faces xxxx

 

Wow! Well done Hattie that is such good news, and what a lovely thing to do

 

Well done to you and Hattie. That's really fantastic. I've got PAT on my to do list for this year with Juno. Want to hear all about it.

 

That's a really lovely thing to do.

 

Lovely news Helen , well done to Hattie , and you

 

Well done! A lovely thing to do.

 

Aw, lovely! Well done, Hattie! My mum's dog is a PAT dog.

 

Congratulations, well done. I think PAT dogs do a fantastic job, sometimes a dog is the thing that the patient responds to and it gives great happiness to those in hospital or a Home who cannot have their own dogs.

 

That is really great - congratulations!
I hope you BOTH enjoy it very much

 

Well done Hattie... and Charlie we have therapy dogs that come into my work, the patients just love them

 

What a really lovely thing to do Helen,well done Hattie,hope you enjoy making lots of new friends together x

 

Hi Rosemary,

Here's the information

We had to go to a Vet surgery about 10 miles away as she was an official assessor. The assessment consisted of me having to groom Hattie then the Vet groomed her, the Vet then pulled her tail (not hard) played with her ears, got right into her face actually touching it with hers, she held a treat firmly between her fingers and Hattie had to take it very gently which she did, I had to get Hattie to look at me whilst the Vet dropped an instrument on the floor which made a loud noiseto assess her reaction. There was a form she filled in with various questions about Hattie's termperament, how she seemed, she appeared to be in good health, how she reacted to being somewhere unfamiliar, was she relaxed etc. which were all glowing. She interviewed me and that was it, but the whole process took 2 months as you have to obtain 2 character references which obviously have to be checked out, photo's of me and one of Hattie, you also have to produce proof of vaccinations.

I thought about it very carefully for several months, but what really pushed me to go for it was my youngest son Thomas (16 years old), he volunteers at a Nursing Home every Tuesday after School. He sees a man of 44 years old with multiple health and mental problems and he said he would love someone to bring their dog in as he misses having animals in his life, so Thomas asked if Hattie could visit, so that was it my mind was made up.

I have to order my T Shirt and Hattie's coat, soooo excited Thanks for your interest. xx

 

That is great news Helen, well done Hattie, what a lovely thing to do.

 

Fantastic news, well done to you both.

 

Aw thank you so much everyone for your lovely comments, I appreciate it a lot

I thought I had better make sure Hattie could be calm in busy new situations which at 8 years old she is not really that used to as we are rural, so off we went into town, treats and clicker at the ready. We walked through the town centre where the Market is on, we walked round the pie & mash van, the cake stall and best of all the pet stall which had lots of low level treats on show, I am proud to say Hattie didn't leave my side on a slack lead the whole time, looking to me constantly for instructions, she even passed a lot of Pigeons, ignored a large White Shepherd dog that barked and lunged at her and a multitude of other dogs and puppies We sat on benches, stood outside various shops, walked past the river which has dozens of Ducks in it, walked past so many food outlets/cafe's etc. she didn't bat an eyelid or budge from my side. I wasn't expecting to be able to do so much on our first busy outing but she took it all in her stride.

A lovely man approached me and asked me "how did I manage to get such a lovely well trained dog?", "training" I replied, he told be he was a dog breeder so I took it as a compliment. Lots of people stopped and commented on what a lovely calm dog she is. Considering that is the first time ever Hattie has been in town she did amazingly well with so many distractions and noises, I am incredibly proud of her.

I will be taking her to lots of other places, really hoping to be able to do Pets at Home. Hattie really is a great dog but still doing lots of extra preparation her for our PAT work

Thanks xxxx

 

Well done Hattie, I bet you are really proud of her Helen. Think of all the happiness you both will bring to people.

 

Well done Hattie ! What a wonderful thing for you and Hattie to do Helen. You will both brighten up so many peoples day when you start your visiting. You must let us know all about it. Hattie is an absolute star and so are you for doing this. I think we will need to see a photo of Hattie in her uniform. ☺️

 

Congratulations I'm absolutely thrilled for you. Well done. I was supposed to start the process with Mabel last Autumn, have to postpone until her elbows are more stable.
It will really add another lovely dimension to your life. Xx

 

What a good girl Hattie was on your trip into town. All the success is down to you Helen and your training. I'm interested in trying Juno for a PAT dog as all her breeders dogs visit local homes for the elderly and disabled and also work with children with learning disabilities. Look forward to the photos of Hattie in uniform and hearing about your first visit.

 

Well done!