Latest / PHLV Radio / Paws of Comfort: Animal Therapy with Pet Partners on #FilipiNARS

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Paws of Comfort: Animal Therapy with Pet Partners on #FilipiNARS · PHLV Radio

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Speaker 1: H m.
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Speaker 2: Hm hm. Just like a.
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Speaker 3: Friend from back home.
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Speaker 1: This is your Filipino radio experience in Las Vegas, p
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h l V Radio.
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Speaker 3: A child.
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Speaker 4: Well, Hello there to all of you Philippine ARS listeners
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and followers. Coat we hope you are well and thank
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you for joining us today. And of course, as you know,
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Philippine ARS is brought to you by the p and
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an V as a public service project, which is the
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Philippin Nurses Association of Nevada in collaboration of course with
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PHLV Radio. So today we have a great topic to discuss,
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especially for those animal lovers out there.
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Speaker 3: We're going to talk about animal.
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Speaker 4: Assisted therapy or AAT, and it is a structured, goal
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oriented intervention that integrates animals such as dogs, cats, horses,
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and birds into the treatment plans to support emotional and
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psychological well being conducted by licensed professionals. ANIMALSTS is the
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therapies use the presence and the interaction with animals to
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help clients or patients achieve specific therapeutic outcomes within a
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well guided clinical framework. So to give us a better
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perspective of how these works, we have invited the founder
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of Pet Partners of Las Vegas, Miss Sue Grandfest and
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her psychic Charlie.
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Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for inviting us to spend
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this time with you. Charlie is always happy to talk
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about what we do. Oh, okay, great Charlie. We'll get
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to you in a minute.
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Speaker 3: Okay.
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Speaker 4: So Sue Grundfest is let's see, she is a licensed
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Pet Partners instructor and can evaluate all the nine species
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of Pet partners right, that's right, and including it. So
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you relocated to Las Vegas and since then you have
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been focused with creating unique animal assistant therapy programs serving
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the community. Pet Partners of Las Vegas or the Love
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Dog Adventures, Okay, is a leadership team. She's in the
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leadership team for the national program and has educational healthcare
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and partnerships across the valley. So you've been doing this
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since twenty fourteen, right, Oh, we've been in Vegas.
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Speaker 2: I've been here seventeen years from New York, when I'm
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actually involved in animal assistant therapy for almost thirty years.
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Almost thirty years.
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Speaker 3: Okay, tell us a little bit more about yourself then.
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Speaker 2: Well, I was a corporate executive and I had a
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wonderful career and I was on the board of directors
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of an animal rescue. But I didn't have my own pet.
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But then I had a very lazy illness. It changed
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everything about me. Out of work over a year and
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how to relearn a lot of things. And the only
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thing I really wanted when I got well was to
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have my own pet and do this. Kokomo Love Dog
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was my very first therapy dog, a big white poodle,
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and she taught me everything I know about this and
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she saved my life. I'd still be sitting on the
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couch in my nightgown if I didn't have to take
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care of that dog. So I've had nine therapy dogs
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since I am We are an affiliate of the National
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Pet Partners, which is in many countries, and I'm really
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proud of that affiliation. When I moved to Vegas, it
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wasn't my intention as I retired to bring a program.
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I brought one dog and I was just going to
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volunteer myself. Well, I've had nine over the years, but
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we have many many animals in our program, so it
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grew from there.
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Speaker 4: So tell us what is the definition and the purpose
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of therapy animals.
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Speaker 2: It's integrating the healing power of the Charlie do you
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want to, Yes, come on, Charlie, you can come with me.
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It's integrated the power of the animal to bring about
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a goal or result. So whether it's helping with physical
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therapy or occupational therapy and the dogs or the horses.
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We had horses at one of the nursing schools on Thursday.
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But it's really a tool for us. It's the vehicle
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to reach people. I specialize in mental health and behavioral health,
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especially with teenagers, and they are going to talk to anybody.
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They're not going to deal with anything, but they will
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talk to the animals and they will understand kindness and touch.
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They'll never under estimate the power of touch because a
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lot of people nobody touches them in a kind way.
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So it's utilizing the power of the animal and traditional
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and non traditional therapies. But it's also just for fun,
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comfort and joy. Yes, we are part of wellness programs
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that mint many places in Las Vegas, including the VA
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and all of the colleges, and many corporations bring us
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in to help distress their employees.
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Speaker 4: Well, that is great to know. So dogs are not
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the only therapy animals right.
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Speaker 2: We have nine species that Pet Partners registers so let's
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see if I can do it. Dog hat horse, mini
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donkey and full size horse, alpaca and lama, pig, rat,
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birds and what was the last one? Did I not say? Pig? Horses,
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rats and any pigs, birds and guny pigs and rabbits.
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It has to be a species that Pet Partners National
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has found a reliable testing for because our evaluation process
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is really the strictest of all programs.
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Speaker 4: Okay, so you have so Pet Partners of Las Vegas
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is part of the national correct.
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Speaker 2: We have the Nevada Affiliate of International Pet Partners, which
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is the certifying body, the certifying body of animals for
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those nine species. He's so happy with you. How do
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you feel when you pet him?
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Speaker 3: I love him? Can I take you home?
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Speaker 4: But I do have a dog named mem Yeah she's
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a shitsu. But he so he knows it. Yeah, he
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knows it too. So what are the benefit of benefits
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of theirn.
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Speaker 2: Well, you know, people who usually think of just their animals,
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visiting and hospitals and making people feel be part of
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a mental health program. But that's my specialty, mental health
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and behavioral health, especially with teenagers. But our program works
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in a broad range of environments from schools to senior homes,
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to hospitals to like I said, all of the colleges,
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the via primary clinics. Quite a few corporations bring us
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in every month. We're at the medical school at UNLV.
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We are there regularly to nursing schools because it's a
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very stressed world and during exam time or study time
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or just lifetime, animals give them a break. If they
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come for five minutes during their break, it lets them
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settle down. And I have next week. I've got the
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School of Medicine, a cat and four dogs. And yeah,
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they're in the library. I think I'll take him back
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if he wants to sit up here?
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Speaker 3: Now, want to if he does?
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Speaker 5: So?
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Speaker 4: You you just said that you know they can help
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in various therapy settings, right right, for instance, in schools
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and hospitals and rehab centers. Is there a difference in
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their roles when they go to each specific at all?
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Speaker 2: I actually have two therapy dogs now, I've had three
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at one time. We have many in our program, all
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different breeds and all different ages and things. But they
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don't do the same thing. My buddy who worked yesterday
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works with children and things like that, and does a
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lot of physical things with them, whether it's even playing.
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If you are doing physical therapy to get your hand
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to open to pestile, we're actually utilizing the animal to
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bring about a goal of that session. We do a
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lot with children and with special needs or someone who
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might be nonverbal. I had a child years ago that
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the first thing they ever said with Coco my dog, Coco. Oh.
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After weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks, we're part
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of the speech therapy. So it's whether it's you look
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at mental health. They're non judgmental, unconditional love. He's not
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gonna say you don't look well today, or you sound funny,
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or you smell funny, or you walk funny. They're just
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gonna love you. And I think a lot of that
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is all PET Partners puts a lot of onus on
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the handler. Us at the end of the wish is
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everything that's who's insured with pet Partner's the handler. I
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have to know if he's stressed, if he's doing too much,
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what's appropriate. We work in the district libraries, he goes,
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he's a library dog. But I also got the official
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teams with Clark County District and the VA and places
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like that, and it might be that I bring Buddy.
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Mostly with my teenagers, it's Buddy. He's a little more active,
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and they understand his background and they understand. The dogs
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that are in a program and the cat, they're all
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they're adopted or there's they all have a story and
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the stories are on their little cards and everybody gets
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the trading card. And I have had show and we've
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made the books of the dogs and the cats and
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the horses. And I've had children in our reading program
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that say I can't read. They could be sixteen, seventeen
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years old. I can't read. But if the dog is
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in front of them and they want to read that
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dog's page, they will try harder. So is the library
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we do in all different places. Wow, every time I
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meet someone, we want to see what's appropriate. We have
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activity cards and things that the dogs know how to
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do with a cat can he sit down? And they're
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learning a thousand things you would never think of. We
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want to look at the affect when you work with
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mental health, especially I work with adults, young adults, teenagers, youth,
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and a lot of our teams do. Sometimes you go
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in the affect is so high they're breaking walls before
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they come into us. You're bringing them down. Our dogs
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won't jump the lick bark, They're going to be chill.
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And I've had kids when they come in, I have
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maybe security in the room and they say, we wish
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you would hear every day because it's the only time
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they will listen to you, Miss Grunfestival. They don't listen
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to us, but they respect the animal. And we have
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to know to handle so it's very safe, how to
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handle them, how to know if we have to back up.
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Then I work with people who have such a low affect,
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horribly depressed, and we want to bring it up. Can
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you make eye contact with him? He is deaf and
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almost blind, and he will make.
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Speaker 3: Still look at me.
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Speaker 2: By I had a little dog. We spent almost nine
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sessions until he was up on the table like this,
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brave enough to even touch him and look at him.
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A child with many, many challenges, and he wouldn't make
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eye contact with humans, but he did after meeting twenty
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one dogs and forecats, he understood because they're not going
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to judge him, They're just going to be there. That's
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the power.
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Speaker 3: That's the power.
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Speaker 4: So you opened bet Partners of Las Vegas, which is
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a five O one C three and of course with
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that for those who don't know, it's a not for
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profit organization.
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Speaker 3: Why did you decide to open this?
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Speaker 2: Well, when I moved here, I was pet Partners were
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our teams, but I had another group in New York.
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That's why we're also Love Dog Adventures. But I didn't
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want to start a whole program. But when we moved
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to Vegas and people said to me, how can I
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do what you do? And we realized working with some
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of the casino properties, working we hit things cost money.
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And my volunteers pay for nothing, no uniforms, no nothing.
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Once they're part of the group, we do everything. So
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even to make broth suors every dog, I can go
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through a thousand a month of his trading cards. That's
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our giveaway. The books, the stories Miss Coco would make
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a toy of her, and they're all all given away.
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So I said, you know, we really should be a
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nonprofit because people started asking me how can we donate
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to you? And we started, but the bank is Sue,
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don't tell anybody that. But we became a nonprofit and
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U and LV the nonprofit clinic, did our nonprofit pro bono,
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so we have great You know, it takes a village.
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I have a lot of people supporting us to do this.
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Speaker 4: The a, the different cards kind of like the baseball
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cards that he Pokemon Pokemon and our guests here, our
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special guest here, Charlie was even featured at the UNLV magazine.
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Speaker 2: That was very special. We were two years ago December
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sixth during the active shooter tragedy. I had five dog
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teams in lead Library, who's our primary liaison at the university,
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and that's when it happened and we were locked in
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that room. We don't allow our animals to work more
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than two hours a day. We were in that room
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almost six hours. We have the last building to be
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opened up, and it was quite scary. There were three
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thousand students waiting to see us in that building. Every
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dog was just amazing. I know we kept some kids
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from wanting to make a run for it. The first
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time we know of a therapy team not just comforting
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people after a tragedy. Certainly nine to eleven October one.
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We've been there for everything, but to actually be a
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part of it. We were there not knowing what was happening.
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Every single handler and animal were so remarkable. And now
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I go places and they say, is that Charlie from UNLV.
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But it really kept the We had hundreds of students
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locked in the room with us, and then more in
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the building once they walked us in, and they kept them.
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I always say we were at the wrong place, but
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at exactly the right time because these animals we had
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the staff that were remarkable UNLV remarkable. We had no
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idea what was going to happen. We could have been
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be getting all these rumors and the dogs that we
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had them on the floor on their blankets and everybody
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surrounding them, and then to time just kept going on.
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We didn't know. We walked them from place to we
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walked them around, changing blankets, they got to move. And
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every student we had one young man that I know
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for years there and he loves Charlie, he loves my Benny.
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He holds his paw and he's got some challenges himself,
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and this is his anchor. He holds his paw. And
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for those six he held his paw. And when we
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had to walk to Thomas and Mack and then get
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on the buses, we had to do everything. The hands
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up and can't leave your car like everybody else. This
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young man held this dog's hand, his paw, and that
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kept him calm because he was going to panic. And
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I know we made a difference. We make a difference
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every time we go out. It could be really subtle.
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We may not know about it till fifteen years later.
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I met a woman, a woman now who I know
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since three years old. Some of the places we go
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are very confidential and we can't say where we go,
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but they're utilizing the pets in really remarkable ways. And
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I met this person very young, and through the years
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I would see her. I can't say I know her.
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It's all confidential. They would always say, do you remember me?
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I said, well, this is Charlie. You haven't met Charlie yet.
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We have to redirect. That's the training for our handlers.
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How do we handle this. We have to know, just
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like you and the nursing confession, what you can and
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can acknowledge it. But this woman came up to me
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and she's grown woman now, and she took out well.
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I happened to have one of his little baggies, a
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plastic bag with over one hundred trading cards, and she says,
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this is what I touch when I'm having a very
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bad day. Everyone that she met over fifteen years, you know,
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and I know I may have only met her once
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or twice over the years, and she met others in
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our program made a difference to her. She said, this
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anchors me because I'm having I can't do what's dress.
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And she's in college. Now, great, that's that's.
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Speaker 3: Great, that's great.
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Speaker 4: So I know you bring them to a lot of places,
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like you said, and you have a fact. She's a
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very busy woman.
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Speaker 2: And I'm retired.
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Speaker 3: She's retired, but she's very busy.
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Speaker 4: But it took a while for us to get together
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to say, hey, when are you available to even come
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through July?
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Speaker 2: Right? Seven days a week, I'm in the field or
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training or testing or running the program. You know.
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Speaker 3: So how many therapy animals do you have?
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Speaker 2: We don't really give a number because it fluctuates. Every
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two years. We must go through a complete renewal, so
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some pets age out, they retire. I have teams in
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Saint George, other places in Mawapa, we're all over that
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are still part of the Nevada program. So it varies,
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and we're going through a tough time now because we've
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had about ten or eleven that aged out and are retiring.
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We lost quite a through during COVID because they moved.
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The beauty of pet partners is were everywhere. So during
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COVID some of our great handler went to Florida or
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Arizona to be with family and volunteer there. They were everywhere,
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so in volkswaits. But right now we had mostly dogs.
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We do have three cats, we have three mini horses.
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We had three rabbits and guinea pigs who all passed
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away last year. So we're desperately looking for the smaller
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pocket pets that we can work with. And I hope
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Charlie has at least two more years.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so we do have some pictures to show you,
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so I hope you know that they are.
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Speaker 3: But let's talk about our guests here. Hi, Charlie, you
17:59
up for docketing.
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Speaker 2: He is dead. When I adopted him, he was already
18:05
quite senior, and he had many many medical procedures over
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the next four days and put him back together. Yeah,
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I'll tell us, I said, well, I said to me,
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I took him. He was extremely mad and in bad condition,
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but all I look for for my own pets and
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those in the program is if they're people centric and
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if they truly have people in a calm way. This
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dog was in pretty poor physical condition from neglect, but
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over the seven hours I spent looking at him, he
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made eye contact, and I just knew under all of that,
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just like the kids I work with. One kid said
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to me, all your dogs, Miss sew are ugly when
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you get them, And I said, but the beauty is there,
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we bring it out. So I spent many hours with him,
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and then I knew I couldn't take him home to
18:47
meet my dogs. Yeah, I couldn't bring him home because
18:51
of the condition he was in. So I took him
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straight to my vet and we talked and all the
18:54
next four days she did many, many testing and procedures.
18:58
Eight pounds years later and a half of hair was
19:02
cut off. That was him, so you can see his eyes.
19:05
Yet all he was just the greatest. And you have
19:08
a shit Susie, you know how darling they are. But
19:10
he was a messer. But he was always kind and
19:15
gentle and kissing, and he had so many procedures over
19:18
a few days. Three of the vet texts where I
19:20
go about my animal hospital said, Miss Sue. If you
19:23
can't keep him, one of us.
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Speaker 5: Will take him.
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Speaker 3: He's the sweetest dog in the world.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, so right now I have him four years adopted
19:29
in the day after Thanksgiving four years ago. We think
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he must be about fourteen or fifteen years old. We're
19:35
not sure, and we hope he lives to eighteen. Several
19:39
of mine have and they've all had great medical challenges.
19:43
But he's awesome. So that's how I picked Charlie only
19:47
because of this. His attachment to people. Yes, and he's
19:51
also great with other animals. They have to be, but
19:53
they have to be naturally calm. It's not all about obedience.
19:57
It's the natural temperament and demeanor, and that they love
20:00
people in a way that even though we're always on
20:03
the leash, we always manage them.
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Speaker 3: He wants to be you saw before, he.
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Speaker 2: Wants to wait. When we were waiting Will, he was
20:11
making he makes something sound because he said, can you
20:13
please pet me more? Why am I here up on
20:16
this table if you're not gonna pet me?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, you are so good and you just really look
20:23
at me and say, hey, I talk to me.
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Speaker 3: Right. So, how many handlers do you have?
20:29
Speaker 2: Well, it's it's over fifty to sixty now, but each
20:31
one is with their own pet, so we are they have.
20:34
Of course, we are tested with our animal and pet
20:37
partners different levels of registration. Complex is the highest level
20:41
means our evaluation is twenty three elements and it's the
20:45
handler and the animal being tested. We do a complete
20:47
retest and a place you've never been. Volunteers, you've never
20:50
met with an evaluator. We have five licensed valuators in Vegas.
20:54
He passed as a blind deaf dog complex with me,
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so and I never talked to him. He's the highest level.
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So we were testing with how I position luish and
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how I touch him because he can't hear anything, can't
21:06
give commands, and how much he loves all the people
21:09
around him. And they have to be steady. They have
21:12
to be friendly but not effusive. Somebody you know, if
21:15
you say to me, my dog can kill me with
21:17
his tail because he's so active and jump in. That's
21:20
not friendly. That's excited. He's a friendly dog. That's all
21:25
he wants to handle him.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and and and that's good. I love that he's
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facing me.
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Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, it's like he wants I know. You guys
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are all seeing maybe the rear end of him, but
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he wants to look at he turns around and look
21:37
at the people.
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Speaker 3: We're gonna turn him around later. But let me ask
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you one thing.
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Speaker 2: I know.
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Speaker 3: There's such a thing as a service dog. What is
21:45
the difference between a service dog and.
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Speaker 2: A therapy It's so simple to say a service dog
21:50
and it has to be just a dog or a
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MANI pony in rural areas works for their owner. They
21:55
are helping their own mitigated disability with a learned task
22:00
or alert. They have full public access and you don't
22:02
want to handle them. It's not going to be like no,
22:05
like a therapy dog works with their owner for other people,
22:09
that's the difference. He's not watching me all the time.
22:12
If I need an alert to perhaps a seizure or
22:16
panic attack, or a mobility dog that has to help
22:20
me physically. His role is to be in everyone else,
22:24
But we handle them, so it's a team. Both ends
22:27
of the leaf. Is really important in our training and certification,
22:30
and we really want to know that this animal and
22:33
that human and I can only bring one a time,
22:35
and couldn't bring both of my dogs because his needs
22:38
come first. You are your animal's best advocate. If even
22:41
now during this taping, he makes a sound that does
22:45
sound odd, but he can't really bark, so he makes
22:47
a funny sound. If he said that and I said
22:50
he has to go potty, you have to take him out. Yes,
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So if they alert or they give a signal, it's
22:54
our responsibility to understand their animal. So service dog works
22:57
for you, therapy dog works with you. Yeah, that's the
23:01
I can't take him where pets.
23:03
Speaker 4: Are not allowed, right right, So yeah, I did have
23:05
a patient who actually has a service dog. And this
23:10
patient particularly has some seizures and she goes, you know,
23:14
flat out, So that service dogs they trained to warn,
23:19
to warn the nurse and actually the patient thatches the
23:23
chest of the of the patient, pressure of the pressure,
23:27
just to signal that you're about to go into some.
23:31
Speaker 2: Kind that's there's greatest sense to smell the diabetical work
23:35
do they's smelling the change in you. That's what's so remarkable.
23:40
Speaker 4: And if they know he he noticed that actually when
23:45
when the patient was like really.
23:47
Speaker 3: Anxious, you know, they precursor.
23:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's he would put the pause, you know, her belly,
23:54
just to warn everybody something is gonna.
23:56
Speaker 2: Be working with forty thousand people like I'm gonna have
23:59
it a come next week all around them because he's
24:02
got to concentrate on that on not human and that
24:05
is life saving. But it's a very different job, very
24:08
different training, and what we're going to go through next week.
24:11
I've got five dogs working at one of the big
24:14
properties here for big convention. That's that's our funding comes
24:17
from our corporate sponsors. They're going to have thousand. I
24:19
can go through maybe a thousand cards in a day
24:22
because that's what it is. But if he had to
24:24
watch me to do something, then he can't do that job.
24:28
So they're very different, and they're both both really valuable. Okay,
24:33
so he wants more, you want more. You want more,
24:36
he wants more.
24:37
Speaker 3: Okay, So how how long do you need to train these?
24:40
Speaker 2: Well, it varies, but the basics you have. The animal
24:44
has to be at least a year old, can't be
24:46
someone you adopted three weeks ago, and they have to
24:48
have lived with you at least six months. You really
24:50
have to know them. You have to know their signals.
24:53
How is he telling me he's stressed? How do you
24:55
tell me you have to go to the bathroom? We
24:56
don't have a doggy door here. You have to understand
24:59
what he loved the most, so that's and then solid
25:03
positive training. We do not allow any metal, no choke collar,
25:07
no prong caller, no retractable leach. They have to be
25:10
managed like this and can you find what they're really
25:14
best out? Do they really love children? I'm a hospice dog.
25:17
People say I want to do hospice. You with the
25:20
human under the leash might not be able to handle it.
25:23
That will travel down the lee. You have to make
25:26
it as a team. He is still a class dog.
25:28
He does all the big events. He's the mascot for
25:31
the colleges. They all know him. He wants he's the
25:34
hugging dog. Before we leave, you're gonna get a hug
25:36
Doris because that's what he's known as, the hugging dog.
25:39
But do you see how he's not leaning to me.
25:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, he wants to go on you.
25:45
Speaker 2: He wants you. So that's what we look for. So
25:47
at least a year old, at least live with you,
25:48
six months solid positive training without food. They have to
25:52
not be bothered. If maybe next week we have a
25:54
buffet behind us. I don't know. We don't work with
25:57
treats as the reward and they have to love it
26:00
to tolerate.
26:01
Speaker 5: Do you think he's loving.
26:02
Speaker 2: This right now? Oh god, he's not used to being
26:04
up on a table. He's doing so great. He just
26:07
wants more and that's what we look for in all
26:10
the different species. You had to see the little horse.
26:12
We had sit them in at Galen Nursing and Southern Hills.
26:16
That's our partnerships and I have I just posted the
26:18
pictures on our Facebook page. Unbelievable, unbelievable. Everybody came out
26:23
to see her and it gave them a big break too.
26:26
You know how hard nurses work and the students, we
26:29
know that we love nurses and it just come out.
26:32
For two minutes, we're going to be in front of
26:33
the building and they all came out. It was fun.
26:36
Speaker 4: It's really really stressed now. Now, what is a training
26:39
for the handler?
26:40
Speaker 2: Well, PET Partners is different than other programs. There are
26:43
many different therapy programs and we encourage people to look
26:45
into all of them and choose what's best for you.
26:48
There's an online handler course that you have to take
26:50
and pass, and we do it every year to make
26:52
sure you're up to speed on our policy and procedures
26:55
such as never let go of a leash, never have
26:58
them be stressed, under stand their signals. Are they predictable
27:01
versus reliable? We have to know what this animal is
27:04
going to do, so it's safe and so they're happy.
27:07
Do they like the big crowds? Are they going to be?
27:09
So we learned hippo laws and infection control. If I'm
27:11
at the hospital, I can't go in a room where
27:13
you have to gown up. I can't goun him up. No,
27:15
I can't mask him. So we learn all of that.
27:18
So it's an online course available now. I am an
27:20
instructor who could teach it, but I think people love
27:23
doing it online. I'm sitting with me for eight nine hours,
27:27
and then once you've passed that, you have two full
27:30
years to pass with your pet. And some people say, well,
27:33
that's crazy because we schedule testing every month. If the
27:36
class I'm doing now, I also do advanced therapy prep
27:39
work that's advanced if you want to take it. But
27:42
now that group may want a test when they're done,
27:46
and they may I have people from last January that
27:49
just don't feel ready. They volunteer with us, They shadow,
27:51
they come to see all the different things, but they're
27:54
not ready. We don't want to rush. And some people
27:56
start with a pet that's young. You know, a golden
27:59
that's a year old, or a lab or husky. They're
28:02
very active. Might you tell that five six years that
28:04
this is their next career.
28:06
Speaker 4: So you have to be certified as a handler as well.
28:08
We call it registrations the handler.
28:11
Speaker 2: And the animal. So if you look at my pet,
28:14
this is my hospital badge. But you see it's both
28:16
of us. And if the handler doesn't pass our evaluation,
28:22
it doesn't matter if the animal is green. Everything is
28:25
on the handler. Everything, everything I'm gonna pick come up again.
28:27
I'm gon show him how hugs. Would you like a hug?
28:29
Speaker 3: Yes? Yes? Can I have put your arms to your side.
28:33
Speaker 2: I'm gonna put him where he knows where he is. Sorry,
28:35
it's okay, okay, now hold him. That's Charlie, what he
28:39
is known for. He is the most let's see. Sorry,
28:45
there you go. That's Charlie. We're gonna get a good
28:48
shot at Okay, there you and he's quite happy right now,
28:52
and he's holding on to you, and so we can
28:58
pass him around from person to person and you will
29:00
hold on and he is so happy right now. So
29:03
finally Doris gave me a hug. Oh what a good boy.
29:11
So there you go. And you know, you don't want
29:15
to ever underestimate, like I said, the power of touch.
29:19
I had a client. We don't call them patients, we
29:21
call them all clients. And I had a client once
29:24
and we visited her over a year every week with Coco,
29:29
who was the original, the original original, that's the original Coco.
29:33
And we would sit with her and she really had
29:36
very little mobility left in her life, but you know,
29:39
God bless her, her brain was there and she wanted to
29:41
talk and have company. And I think I was her
29:43
only visitor. And at one point we would sit like
29:46
this and she would pet the dog and I just
29:48
was with her. I heard about her life she had.
29:50
She could tell her stories and jokes to someone who
29:53
never heard them before, and that was very enriching for her.
29:56
And at one point she said to me, you know, Sue,
29:59
you were the only one who touches me now in
30:01
a non medicinal way. I have all these caregivers. My
30:04
husband doesn't even touch me. And that is the power.
30:08
She would pet this dog the best she could or
30:11
I just lay them on her and she said, this
30:14
is what I'm missing the most touch. So when you're
30:17
with your patients, I know how important that. I've been
30:21
a patient for a long time and the nurses saved
30:23
my spirit and soul. And we're the only ones who
30:26
would say, how you doing today? And I was not
30:28
an organ or a disease or I was a person,
30:31
and that's why we love nurses. Yeah, that's good.
30:35
Speaker 3: So where is where's the cinnamon?
30:43
Speaker 2: That's it this week?
30:45
Speaker 4: Okay, that's awesome. So where is pet Partners located? How
30:50
can people get a hold of you?
30:52
Speaker 2: And? Uh national is in every state, in several international countries.
30:57
We are local in Nevada across the valley. We are
31:00
at www. Pet Partners of Las Vegas dot org. And
31:05
if you want information on how to become a team
31:07
or any anything quick on contact us and I answer
31:11
every day all those comments. You can also make a donation.
31:14
So we are the local affiliate. So we serve Boulder City,
31:17
Clark County, as far as Mawapa, Laughlin, so we serve
31:22
all of this area. And it's just the most rewarding
31:26
thing to do with your PET.
31:27
Speaker 3: I tell you, I know people tell me you crazy?
31:30
Speaker 4: You get three dogs? I said, well, you know two
31:35
of my dogs are rescue dogs. So I'm like, okay,
31:39
that's why I couldn't be without them. I couldn't be
31:43
without them.
31:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, you want to go back up.
31:45
Speaker 4: So what are your final thoughts for the audience and
31:50
for the community as about therapy bats?
31:54
Speaker 2: Right, Well, We're very proud to be part of an
31:56
organization like Pet Partners that takes this seriously. We're a professionalolunteers.
32:00
We are all volunteers, even my board. None of us
32:03
are paid. Our currency is different. The currency is knowing
32:06
we serve the community. And what is better than spending
32:10
time with your beloved pet doing something they love and
32:13
you love. And I just see that we have achieved
32:17
goals through the touch and the animals and their unconditional
32:20
love and non judgmental demeanor that you can't do with humans.
32:25
It's an augment to traditional and non traditional therapies. And
32:28
as the human under the wish, I am retired and
32:31
I work seven days a week. Is nothing more glorious
32:34
than knowing you have either brought a bright spot to
32:37
someone's day with your pet. That's right, that's so good.
32:44
Speaker 4: Well, missus Sue Grunfest, thank you so very much for
32:49
coming to the program today to explain to us about
32:52
animal therapy, and of course Charlie, thank you so much, Charlie.
32:58
Speaker 3: This is ever the.
32:59
Speaker 4: First time time in Philippine ARS we have a therapy
33:04
dog as a guest.
33:05
Speaker 3: So thank you for coming today. We appreciate it. Okay,
33:11
you want more, Okay, come on here, I get I
33:14
can give you a hug.
33:17
Speaker 5: Okay.
33:18
Speaker 4: So, as we have explored today, therapy animals and profound
33:24
give profound emotional support and bring comfort and reduce stress
33:30
and fosters healing in ways that words alone can't even
33:36
you know, can even you can't even imagine.
33:40
Speaker 3: While dogs may be the most.
33:42
Speaker 4: Recognized companions in this space, there's a wide variety, as
33:47
Sue had said, of animals therapy. Animals like cats and
33:52
horses and even small mammals that can I didn't even
33:57
know that. Yeah, they can play a therapeutic roles. So
34:02
the heart of a successful animal assisted therapy program lies
34:06
in the collaboration of the handler and the correct It's
34:13
a dedicated team of mental health professionals, trained handlers, and
34:18
the animals themselves working in harmony to create a safe
34:23
and nurturing environment where.
34:25
Speaker 3: Healing can truly take place.
34:27
Speaker 4: Therapy animals remind us of the power of connection, the
34:32
power of touch, how a gentle nudge or a warm
34:36
gaze or a shared moment of calm can make all
34:40
the difference. Their presence in therapeutic settings opens doors to
34:45
new possibilities for emotional and cognitive well being. So thanks
34:51
for joining us on this journey. Please be safe and
34:54
be well, and give your furry or feathered friends as
34:58
X a hug today. Okay, so until next time. This
35:03
is story's bower.
35:04
Speaker 3: You're Philippin, our's host, signing off for now.
35:10
Speaker 5: Wonderful m hmmmm.
36:04
Speaker 3: Just like a friend from back home.
36:08
Speaker 1: This is your Filipino radio experience in Las Vegas p
36:12
h l V Radio.
36:15
Speaker 5: A V bad
36:30
Speaker 2: H