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After meeting with the family, our team will choose a dog based on the person’s and dog’s personality. Creating a Social/Therapy dog placement for a family in need differs from creating placements between service dogs and physically challenged people. Supervision is essential to creating a placement that is safe and effective. It is important for the caretakers of the special needs person(s) to understand that their role is to ensure that the relationship between care recipient and dog is consistently mutual, enjoyable, and safe. For instance, conditions in which those with varying disabilities who tend to lash out physically are not good candidates for our Social/Therapy dogs.
In some cases, a fully trained dog that may not have the exact temperament required for therapy work would still be a good choice for a special needs person or family in need. In this case, New Leash On Life would work with the family to demonstrate handling techniques but the dog would not be certified to visit hospitals and care centers.
LAP dogs may also be available for adoption for a person wishing to become personally involved in our LAP program, visiting schools and care centers to both educate and enhance the lives of other people. These certified dogs would be placed into a loving home with an individual willing to learn handling techniques and visit locations with our other LAP volunteers. If the owner is unable to visit locations, the dog can still be a part of our program and attend events with a LAP trainer or handler.
Our main goal is to provide dogs that are well socialized companions and that can teach responsibility, improve social skills, and relieve stress. And as with any adoption, we want to send our dogs to permanent and loving homes.
What is the difference between service
animals, therapy animals, companion animals and social/therapy dogs?
Click here to see what Lend a Paw dogs are
available or currently in training. |
