Rescue Dogs Turned Into Therapy Dogs
Can rescue dogs become therapy dogs? Rescue dogs being given another chance at a forever home is one thing, training them to become therapy dogs is another. Vancouver ecoVillage's Therapy Dog program contributes to both causes of helping dogs in need as well as humans in need. This will be discussed in today's show with Paula and Quille sharing their stories and and bringing awareness to both causes that is greatly needed.
BIO:
Born and raised in Newfoundland, Canada, Paula Stacey now lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada where she works as a volunteer at Vancouver ecoVillage - a charitable nonprofit that fosters the pets of hospital patients and trains and certifies therapy dogs. Paula suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, a painful neurological disease that progressively makes her lose her coordination, balance, speech and sight leading to paralysis. The impact of the disease is so severe that Paula has had to give up a career she loved which in turn had serious consequences for her emotionally and financially. Despite many ups and downs, Paula has always maintained a positive can do attitude. Paula now volunteers her time with her rescued therapy dog Lucy to bring comfort, love and affection to people in the community. She certified Lucy as a therapy dog through Vancouver ecoVillage and now they both visit schools, senior citizens, hospital patients and terminally ill cancer patients at their homes. Paula believes that Lucy has rescued her and that giving back to the community is important because it makes a difference to change someone's life for the better.
Quille Kaddon is one of the founding members of Vancouver ecoVillage, a community organization dedicated to providing therapeutic services and mental health wellness, located in Vancouver, Canada. With an MA in Management and international experience in NGO development, Quille now helps to run 4 programs, two of which focus on fostering the pets of hospital patients and training therapy dogs for certification. About 3 years ago, Quille worked diligently to rescue and rehabilitate a French Bulldog named Vita who had severe behavioural issues. After many hard months of training, Vita successfully passed the CKC Canine Good Neighbour test and went on to pass all the therapy dog exams to become a certified therapy dog. A new journey began as Vita and Quille worked as a therapy team in the community providing companionship to people who were ill, lonely or homeless. Several local news media picked up their unusual story and highlighted it on CBC, CTV, Vancouver Sun, The Province and Times Colonist. Quille and Vita eventually expanded their work to include helping students at schools and universities via large scale therapy dog events. With Quille's help, Vita now helps to rehabilitate new rescue dogs and give them a second chance at life and finding love.