Angel on a Leash

The Angel on a Leash is a charity that has trained Therapy Dogs that work in health care facilities, schools, rehabilitation and hospice, extended care, correctional facilities and crisis intervention. The charity is there for people who need a lift of spirit in life and health. ^[1]

History

The Angel on a Leash Charity is an activity that was founded in 2004 by the Westminster Kennel Club. In 2007, the charity was approved as an independent 501(c)(3) charity. Once the program became independent, there were thirty therapy dog teams that were approved to be certified as an Angel on a Leash member. When they started the therapy dog teams, they had two places that the teams visited, which were, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian and the Ronald McDonald House of New York City. Over time Angel on a Leash grew and now the charity visits many places throughout the country. The health care places they now visit include: Providence Health Care Center in Portland, OR, New Alternatives for Children in New York City, New Milford Hospital in Connecticut, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, Memorial Sloan Kettering Carter Center in New York City, and the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. In the future the Angel on a Leash program is planning on to work with other facilities. ^[2]

Improving Lives

Throughout time, people have found that pets significantly improve people’s health and the quality of their life. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison Children's Hospital, scientists proved that children become happier when they receive time to play with dogs. The quality of life becomes much better for the children. A woman named Rebecca Johnson studied the way humans feel when touching a pet. Human's release a beneficial hormone, which releases stress from the body and puts you into a calm mood. Also, children who had pets in their home when they were growing up found that they have less common allergies than of people who don’t grow up with dogs or cats. There are many other studies proven, including: Dogs improve children’s reading scores, dogs beneficial in speech-language therapy, dogs are good for mental health, pets lower blood pressure, pets help people survive heart attacks, pets help blunt pain, senior citizens who have dogs seem to have less doctor appoints, etc. Overall, pets seem to help out humans in many ways by having them enjoy their lives. ^[3]

The Differences

The charity Angel on a Leash differs from different charities in many other ways. The Therapy dogs and volunteered owners are very highly trained before going into a setting such as a hospice with very sick people. Every facility there is a certain type of trained dog to that specific type of setting. As the program grows, the charity will update anything that needs to be improved on. Angel on a Leash will work with the facilities finding out how everything is going with the therapy dogs. Not only will the charity look at the therapy dogs, but also the employees will be able to receive awards and promotions based on the performance of each individual. This program was written by very professional people such as: health care partners, business and legal professionals, hospital executives, veterinarians, clergy, obedience instructors and handler-volunteers that have experience in animal-assistance programs. The idea of the program is there for therapy dogs to improve a life through tender care. ^[4]

Therapy Dogs

There are two different therapy dog organizations that support the Angel on a Leash program, this includes: The Mid South Therapy Dogs of Memphis (MSTD) and The Intermountain Therapy Arirrials ef Salt Lake City (ITA). ^[2] MSTD is an organization that trains dogs and certifies them after passing the ten steps canine good citizen test. The ten steps for the canine good citizen test include: Accepting a friendly stranger, Sitting politely for petting, Appearance and grooming, Out for a walk while being loose on a leash, Walking through a crowd, Sit and down on command/Staying in place, Coming when called, Reaction to another dog, Reaction to distractions, and Supervised separation. ^[5] The ITA has a program called R.E.A.D., this program is to improve reading skills and communication of young children. The children receive the chance to read to a trained therapy dog. The feeling of reading to a dog for a young child lifts their spirits. R.E.A.D. was founded in 1999 and was put only into a few facilities, but the program is growing quickly throughout the country. ^[6] Another way to receive training for becoming a therapy dog is through the ASPCA. They also offer Animal Assisted Therapy classes that help pets and their handler learn the ways of becoming a great therapy dog. ^[7] This independent charity, "Angel on a Leash," is very helpful to the young and old people. The organization is rapidly growing to more facilities.