| Events
8/22 NEPP Board Meeting
|
|
9/10-11
Integrative Health Expo
Team Eval Practicum
12/5 NEPP Board Meeting
|
| Quick Links
NEPP
|
|
How you can Help!
CharityBlast
|
|
Daily Om |
|
A smile is nature's best antidote for discouragement.
It brings rest to the weary, sunshine to those who are frowning, and hope to those who are hopeless and defeated.
A smile is so valuable that it can't be bought,
begged, borrowed, or taken away against your will.
You have to be willing to give a smile away before it can do anyone else any good.
So if someone is too tired or grumpy to flash you a smile, let him have one of yours anyway. Nobody needs a smile as much as the person who has none to give. Dale Carnegie |
|
|
Enjoy the Journey~Maureen Ross, MA
For beautiful two-sided cards to leave, as a rememberance, after your visits, check out MintCards
Shirley & Giggles
Stay tuned for Giggles and Shirley's new book:
"The Adventures of Giggles and Owens"
Journey's 1st swim on Dog Mountain-- no problem for a Newfie--
There is a bird that lives deep in the snowy mountains. Tortured by night's numbing cold, it cries that it will build a warm nest in the morning. Yet, when day breaks, it sleeps the day away, basking in the warmth of the sun. So it continues, crying vainly throughout its life. People are often the same, lamenting their circumstances yet passing by every opportunity to change!
Breathing in I know that I am alive-- Breathing out I smile to my aliveness~ Thich Nhat Hanh | |
|
|
We have at least 350 photos. A slide show will be added to the NEPP website. We are exploring a couple of places like Flickr and Photo Bucket, so folks can add there photos for viewing. Thanks everyone!
Can you find the "real" dogs?
All walls are covered with memories of beloved pets.
Journey Ross (b.g)
Beckey Harrington (f.g.)
"Ah Beckey, turn around-- this could be embarrassing."
|
Spotlight's on Volunteer Teams at
Nesmith Library, Windham, NH |
| We appreciate all of our volunteers. You are the core of any non-profit, heart-centered program. You really DO make-a-difference.
Thank you to Jane McCue, the Nesmith Library Staff, parents and children who joined Maureen & Tate Ross, Kath & Jake DeLong and Joan Whitebook.
|
|
Join us for our
|
|
Different Causes~Common Goals
Strong Connections
Families and Pet Partner Teams are invited to bring their dogs in for Reiki, Massage, TTouch, explore the Pet Partner, READ programs, network and meet one of our favorite Vet's who loves pet therapy dogs and cats--
Dr.Dan's Integrative Pet Hospital
Dr. Dan and Dr. Robin have created an East meets West approach to pet care-- |
|
Pet Partner Team Evals - June, 09 |
We know this does not happen magically. It requires commitment to positive training, continuing education, and re-evaluations. We empathize! It is time consuming, BUT consider the consequence: Would you like to be in a hospital, recovering from an injury or sitting in a chemo-infusion chair, and have someone walk in with their dog or horse, who is smelly, pees on the floor, then leaps on your lap while their owner sips her Dunkin Donut iced coffee? Oh, wait a minute-- that's a dog park! Kidding, but you get the picture. Evaluations and Registrations have a valuable purpose. We appreciate the teams who consistently re-eval, thank you! |
|
Training Tip for all Potential Therapy Dogs |
| Great places to slowly (baby steps) socialize your blossoming therapy dogs is on walks, on pleasant weather days, and in Mall Parking Lots. Slowly walking them 10-20 feet towards a destination, like to meet "Dad" coming out of Sears, or into PetSmart, can be a good way to practice easy-walking. The time you spend doing this means less then the "quality" of how you do it. 15 minutes of good training/socicialization is priceless.
If they are spooked or pull, practice "Zen-be-a-tree"- stop, back-up, and/or turn-around returning to point A-- under a shady tree. This takes some patience, time and practice, but the benefits are abundant, offering multiple opportunities for your pup/dog to encounter dozens of sights, sounds and mells. They become familiar, through observation, noticing cars, wheelchairs and cultural diversity. They get to engage with children, with guidance. Carry some healthy treats and have your dog "watch-me" and "sit" before a meet and greet..
Remember 10/5-- awareness meet-n-greet:
At 10 feet, be aware of what's going on around you. At 5-feet, ask before approachng OR having anyone approach your dog. It's good role-modeling and helps to create well-socialized dogs.
There will always be myths about behavior and training: Many were clarified recently at a workshop, Who is the Alpha?, by Monique Charbonnier. I look forward to seeing her again at the APDT Conference in Oakland, CA in October (Hello Teoti).
As behaviorists, who walk the talk, living with and training multiple dogs everyday, "we" know that the key "core" ingredients of a strong pet partner team or family dog has little to do with whether or not the team has trained and tested in the same facility, with Cesar Milan or on Planet Pluto. That's mythical, and without research or justification. Training happens in most facilities for about 1 1/2 hours a week during a class.
Remember 80/20-- instant positive training: As humans, we have a tendency to focus 80% of the time on behavior that has gone wrong-- switch this and you can instantly train and re-shape behaviors. Focus 80% of the time on reinforcing and praising positive behavior when it is offered voluntarily. As Karen Pryor shares in her new book Reaching the Animal Mind, Operant Conditioning is reinforcing behavior that is offered voluntarily (by any species). The behavior can be good or bad. We need to choose what we reinforce when the behavior is offered.
ALL DOGS, whether living with families and/or working in therapeutic milieus deserve to be socialized and desensitized on a regular basis to a broad variety of sights, sounds, smells and cultural diversity.
Although Pet Parner Team Training and READ is a "specialization", the foundation for all dogs relies on positive training, socialization and relationship. The rest is a commitment of humility and diligence on the handler's / families part to integrate "lifestyle" and training into daily living.
I share this as my seven month old newfie chews my foot-- OUCH--TOO HARD. Last week she tried to take the cart for a walk at PetSmart, the operative word being "tried." Time for a training walk--
Enjoy the Journey.
Maureen & the NEPP Teams
| |
|
|
|
WOW-- Congratulations teams: Ken & Sparky, 
