Post Office Box 804 Fairmont, WV 26555-0804
304 825-6105 After 7PM. Otherwise please leave a message.
Kushinda@labs.net
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Kanine Therapy Volunteer Training is scheduled for 6PM October 9, 1998 at Wishing Well Health Center (WWHC) located at 1539 Country Club Road in Fairmont (304) 366-9100. The Activities Director is Diane Schobels (she can assist you with directions). Our Program basically works by you:
Our visits are scheduled for 6:30PM and last for younger Volunteers until 8PM and for older Volunteers until 9PM. Refreshments are provided at our break at 8PM. Our initial training consists of an hour of slide show & video presentation (meeting the dogs, learning how to handle a Registered Kanine Therapist, how to interact with Residents, etc.) and an hour of actually going out on the floor and visiting the Residents at WWHC. After this session, you should have enough information and experience to decide if participating in this Community Service is something you wish to do. A second training session is held the beginning of the next 2-3 scheduled visits that concentrates on specific techniques for interacting with the Residents. Download our Kanine Therapy Volunteer Application Form [PDF], print it, fill it out, bring it with you to our training session! Or, you may download our Visitation Schedule For The 1998 Fall Semester [PDF] to see how active our Program is here in Marion County or to plan on joining us by marking your calandars! Tell your family & friends! All aged Volunteers are welcome! In fact, our youngest Volunteer is only 4 years old! Her name is Emily! Typically, there are over 100 Residents in each Care Facility ... so we need everyone! If you have any questions please email me at Kushinda@labs.net or contact me at (304) 825-6105 after 9PM. We are looking forward to meeting you!
KANINE THERAPY is the establishment of a therapeutic
relationship between a KANINE THERAPY VOLUNTEER (the dog's handler) and their KANINE THERAPIST (the dog) with a RESIDENT in a CARE FACILITY such as a nursing home, rehabilitation center, or hospital. Karamidee's Kru advocates that the key element during the visitation is the interaction between the KANINE THERAPIST and the RESIDENT.
In 1987 the founder of Karamidee Kru's Kanine Therapy Programs Ms. Kammi Kai Hefner, began visiting Residents at the Morgan Manor Convalescent Care Home in Morgantown with several of her show dogs: Ling (a Shih-Tzu), Chou-Dee' (a Shar-Pei), Boozer (a Golden Retriever), and EBCDIC (a Golden Retriever). The reception of the dogs by the Residents was overwhelming! They thoroughly enjoyed visiting with the dogs and soon began to expect to see Kammi and her dogs regularly on Friday mornings. As quoted by Grace Schultz (a Resident at Morgan Manor Convalescent Center) "I just love it when the dogs come to give me kisses. And I love to hug Makro, and Yeah Kierra too!" As Kammi's selection of show dogs grew, so did the number of dogs qualified to
become therapy dogs. It was not long until Kammi had to leave some qualified
dogs at home when she went on visitations. And, this just didn't seem fair;
especially when she had special requests from Residents to see specific dogs.
"I wanna see a BIG dog!" or "I want to see a Wiener
dog!"
You guessed it! Kammi joined forces with West Virginia University (WVU) students and Care Facilities in the Morgantown area in 1991. Kammi has also joined forces with the Future Farmers of America, the 4-Her's, and Girl & Boy Scouts of Marion County. Participation in our Program draws from various interests and thus, attracts a wide variety of volunteers, ages, and volunteerism skill levels. The key to making our Program a success is that all Volunteers receive minimum training in conducting safe kanine therapy sessions and commit themselves to the Program. Volunteers have joined the Kanine Therapy Program for a variety of reasons:
At each participating facility Kammi works closely with the Activities/Recreation/Therapy Director in setting up the Program. For each visit the Activities Director identifies those Residents wishing to participate in the Program and in what capacity. Services range from stopping by to say "Hi!" to Residents who only wish for a quick visit, to those visits lasting up to 30 minutes or more where a Kanine Therapy Volunteer employs all their skills in conducting a "true" therapeutic session. As reported by Charles C. Dixon, CTRS at Chestnut Ridge Hospital
during Spring 1994, "The patients really enjoyed the visits and helped
brighten their day. The staff remarked that each of the three visits were successful
without any problems. Several staff members noted that a few patients with
dementia who had not responded to other stimulation responded remarkably to the
therapy dogs. " I witnessed two adolescents who have been feeling depressed all
day, break out into broad smiles and give the dogs kisses."
The major emphasis of our Program is the incorporation of true "therapeutic" visitation sessions - specifically designed for emotional and physical interaction with each Resident via Reality, Validation, Reminiscing, and Giving Therapy methods. The Kanine Therapy Volunteer is responsible for creating/facilitating the situation/environment and encouraging the Resident to directly interact with the Kanine Therapist (the dog). In all situations the Resident is responding to their environment via these special. For instance, some of the "physical" activities that appeal to a Resident's senses include:
Those Resident's with low self-esteem (and/or confidence) may experience
difficulty in giving to others. They may find it much easier to emotionally give to
an animal rather than to another person (any shape, size, or age) because the dogs
are incapable of passing any judgments. The therapy dogs will always show them love
regardless of anything else.
Consequently, the simple act of giving to the Kanine Therapist can often make the Resident feel better and more worthwhile because they have discovered an outlet for giving without any reservations.The most important aspect of the Giving Therapy is that the Resident perceives that he/she is giving whether it be to the Kanine Therapist, the Kanine Therapy Volunteer, facility staff members, or to other Residents -- it does not matter! Some of the activities specifically designed for the Kanine Therapists to support this type of "emotional" therapy include:
These activities represent only a synopsis of the services offered during a visitation; however, they should serve as a good representation. Using all of these activities, in 1994 alone, Karamidee Kru's Kanine therapy Program completed 2,217 documented therapy visitation sessions!
As of date, there are twenty Kanine Therapists ready and waiting to visit Residents from among seven different breeds: a Great Dane named Kru-Ella', Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Golden Retrievers, Chinese Shar-Pei, Miniature Schnauzers, Shih-Tzu, and a wired hair Dachshund, commonly known as the "Wiener Dog!" This last addition comes as the result of so many Residents requesting the ever so popular breed of dog! And, there are several other dogs still in training. As of August 1995, Karamidee Kru's Kanine Therapy Program owns more registered therapy dogs than any other individual, program, or organization in the country!
Karamidee Kru's Kanine Therapy Program serves the North Central Region of West Virginia (specifically Fairmont, Morgantown, and Grafton) having visited Fairmont General Hospital - Step Down Unit, Pleasant Acres Christian Haven Association, Saint Barbara's Memorial Nursing Home, The Marion Health Care Hospital, Wishing Well Manor and Wishing Well Health Center all located in Marion County; Chestnut Ridge Psychiatric Hospital, Morgan Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation ,The Madison, Sundale Nursing Home, Ruby Memorial Hospital - Skilled Nursing Unit all located in Monongahelia County area; and Alliance Personal Care Home, Inc., Rosewood Health Care Center, the Grafton City Hospital, and the Wallace B. Murphy MD, Nursing Care Facility all located in Taylor County. One of our primary goals is to recognize the kanine therapeutic visitation sessions as an integral part of a Resident's overall treatment plan If you know of someone who would be interested in receiving a visit from Karamidee Kru's Kanine Therapists, or if you wish to attend a visitation session where you could observe the Kanine Therapy
Volunteers and their Kanine Therapists working, or if you wish to become a Kanine Therapy Volunteer, or if you would be interested in receiving a video tape detailing our Program, or if you have other questions please email me at hefnerk@labs.net or contact me at home during the evenings at (304) 825-6105 after 7PM; otherwise please leave a complete message on my answering machine. I will be sure to return your call ASAP.
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Many wish to gain practical
experience in their field of study such as gerontology, pharmacology, nursing,
recreational therapy, health care, social work, psychology, biology, veterinarian
medicine, and animal behavior. Students are interested in gaining hands-on
experience in using animals in conducting therapy as related their professions
(known as animal-assisted therapy).
Some simply wish to donate their time
to a community service activity on a scheduled basis. Volunteering as a Kanine
Therapy Volunteer allows this because Kammi does all the preparation work
setting up the Program with the Care Facilities and all the work
in getting the dogs ready to visit.
Some just want to get out and do something to make
someone else feel good!
promoting as much
touching as possible via holding (the Kanine Therapy Volunteer places
the dog on a lap towel to prevent contact with a Resident's clothing or bedding) and
petting ("Can you feel Fred's warm, soft fur?") the dog;
allowing the Resident to
perceive that he/she has control over the dog by allowing the Resident to
walk the dog by holding the leash and seeing the dog at their
side responding to them;
having the Resident give the dog verbal
commands "Peaz, Sit," or "Down, Stay, Come, Stand",
and "Fetch and/or Take" and watching the dog respond;
encouraging Residents confined to a
wheelchair to hold the dog's leash (or tie it to their wheelchair) and
while in motion they can see the dog walking at their side with them;
supplying new and refreshing
fragrances for the Resident to smell ("Doesn't Annie smell nice
tonight? She just had a special bath, just so she could come and see you!")
because all of the Kanine Therapists are meticulously groomed and bathed in a
pleasant flea-shampoo, followed by a Pert-Plus(r) shampoo within three hours of our visits;
encouraging each Resident to
physically brush (using a soft baby brush -- for the Resident's
protection as well as the dog's) the Kanine Therapist ("Would you like to
help me brush Chet? He would really enjoy that!") Kanine Therapy
Volunteers are trained to have the brush in their hand, offering it to the Resident, as
they ask the question;
delivering additional visual
stimulation for the Resident to experience (as well as serving as good conversation
starting material) are the Kanine Therapists' decor. While on duty each dog wears
a bright and colorful collar, choker, harness, and leash with their bright
"Registered Service Dog Tag" attached to their harness (along with a
silver/gold Rabies tag) and each animal is adorned in a special scarf related to a
Holiday, upcoming local event, or special reality theme chosen for that
visitation
offering further visual
stimulation for the Residents (and just a lot of good old fashioned fun for everyone)
are the different costumes and outfits worn by the Kanine Therapy Volunteers for
the reality theme such as Batman, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Clause;
adding to each Kanine Therapists' decor for
stimulating the Resident's hearing is a bell, also attached to their harness --
Resident's can literally hear that the Kanine Therapy Volunteers and their
companion-animals have arrived and that they are about to receive
a special visit!;
asking each Resident if they would enjoy
physically throwing a soft colorful toy with a bell in it (to stimulate
hearing) for the dog to retrieve back to them; and,
and finally, giving each Resident lots of physical
licks and kisses from the dogs and loving hugs and pats from the Kanine Therapy
Volunteers!
allowing the Resident to assist in taking care of the Kanine Therapist by giving the dog a treat and/or drink of water;