Why did you want to bring therapy dogs into your facility?
This training command is a service member’s first stop after boot camp, so they are often missing home and working to adjust to this new lifestyle. With the high stress environment they are in, one of our goals is to provide our service members with ways to reduce stress and increase joy in their day to day lives. The therapy dogs do just that!
How long have you had therapy dog visits at your facility?
Therapy dogs have been visiting our site for about 2 years now.
Did you run into any complications when starting a therapy dog program?
I had no huge obstacles in starting the program. I had connections to several therapy dog teams prior to starting the program here, as I myself had a therapy dog and formed wonderful relationships with other therapy dog teams that I volunteered with. The only hoop we had to jump through was getting the volunteers background checks since they were going to have access to the military installation.
How long are visits and how many dogs do you have visit at a time?
Our visits are every Wednesday from 11:00-12:00 which is the lunch hour for our service members. We have 2 to 3 dogs visit each Wednesday which works well because we have hundreds of individuals walking by during that hour so no one dog is too overwhelmed at any given time.
Do you have a specific therapy dog visit that touched you?
There are so many visits that genuinely make my heart so happy. When we first started this, I would get pretty emotional watching these service members get so excited over the dogs. Without going into too much detail of the specific work they do, this command is a very high stress environment, demanding an incredible amount of physical, mental, and emotional energy from these individuals. I see what they put into their job day in and day out, and it really takes a lot out of them day to day. When I see the genuine joy and smiles these dogs bring to our service members, it truly makes my day. I hear comments like, “I haven’t gotten to see my dogs in 6 months, this has made my day.” Or, “I have a huge test tomorrow, seeing these dogs is just what I needed.” It brings a smile to my face. They give up so much to serve us, and I love to see the joy that these dogs give back to them.
