Troupe Member of the Month - Lauren Wellen and LaceyLauren has been a member of the PAWSitive Therapy Troupe, a Community Partner of Pet Partners since 2021. She began her therapy career as a member of the PAWS 4 Patients Community Partner group in 2015. Her registered therapy dog and best friend is Lacey, an eight-year-old Miniature Poodle. Lauren and Lacey are weekly visitors on the Pediatrics unit at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. They also are regular visitors at Shriners Hospital in Chicago and at an early childhood center in Oak Park. Lacey began her therapy career working with children in the Oak Park elementary school system in “Read With Me” programs. Lauren and Lacey have touched so many lives since they began in their career in 2015. Here is what Lauren has to say about her PAWS 4 Patients and PAWSItive Therapy Troupe experiences: “Lacey was born in Texas. I asked the breeder for a puppy that had the potential to become a therapy dog and she made a great decision for me! Lacey was raised in a home with her 3 siblings, 2 sisters and a brother and 4 adult dogs. She was quite socialized when she came to my house. We started training the Saturday after she arrived, and she passed puppy class, adult dog class and Canine Good Citizen class. She is also certified as an AKC Novice Trick dog. Lacey and I have officially been a Pet Partner therapy team for 7 years. The reason I said officially is that Lacey was a puppy in-training when she visited her “grandmother” at Belmont Village Senior Living Center. This is where she learned about being around people and medical equipment. The residents loved to visit with her. She also accompanied me to work, where she learned what it was like to be a therapy dog with my colleagues. We passed our therapy dog evaluation shortly after Lacey turned one year old. We began our career in “Read With Me” programs at Oak Park Public Elementary Schools. Since last summer, Lacey and I have been visiting the 4th floor of Loyola Pediatrics weekly. This has become one of our favorite locations to visit. Lacey and I are escorted by the child life specialists as we visit the rooms of patients. We provide therapy to the residents, medical students, and doctors as well as the children. Everyone stops to say hello to us as we walk through the hallways to the rooms. They have been most welcoming! Six years ago we began our hospital visits at Shriners Hospital for Children. We are thankful for these visits as they helped us learn what hospital visiting required and is another place we visit bi-monthly. Since we do like reading with children, we visit an early childhood center, and each summer, we sit outside and read at a home childcare center. Lacey is a very loving, friendly, and calm dog. When she puts her vest on, she knows that she will be bringing smiles to everyone she visits. In hospitals, since she is a small dog, she can either sit on the bed, or on patients’ laps during her visits. She happily and confidently walks to patient rooms in the hospital or down the hallways to classrooms to provide comfort and support wherever she is needed. Therapy work has been an integral part of Lacey’s and my life. We thank PAWSitive Therapy Troupe and Pet Partners for the support and privilege of sharing love through therapy with those in our community through our visits.“ On behalf of all of us in the PAWSitive Therapy Troupe, thank YOU Lauren and Lacey for your dedicated service! |
Mission Statement
The PAWSitive Therapy Troupe is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to sharing registered therapy dogs with individuals in a wide variety of health care and educational settings--bringing comfort, support and encouragement through the unique healing power of the human-animal bond.
What is the PAWSitive Therapy Troupe?
The PAWSitive Therapy Troupe is an Animal-Assisted Activities and Therapy program designed to share registered therapy dogs with patients and students in a variety of health care and educational settings.
What are Animal-Assisted Activities / Therapy?
Animal-Assisted Activities
Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) share registered therapy dogs with patients or students in a variety of activities such as individual bedside visits, entertaining demonstrations or educational sessions. Animal- Assisted Activities are not necessarily goal-directed, but they are nonetheless certainly therapeutic in nature.
Animal-Assisted Therapy
Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is goal-directed intervention in which a therapy dog is an integral part of the clinical treatment process. It is directed by a licensed health care or education professional with specialized expertise and within the scope of his or her profession. AAT is designed to promote improvement in physical, social, emotional and / or cognitive functioning / reading skills. This process is documented in the health care record by the health care professional or in the education plan by the education professional.
Is there a Difference Between a Therapy Dog and a Service Dog?
Yes! Therapy dogs are NOT “service”, or “assistance” dogs. Service dogs include guide dogs for the blind; hearing dogs that alert their owners to sounds; mobility assistance dogs, which may pull a wheelchair or directly support a person; seizure alert dogs; and others like them. Service dogs are covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. People with disabilities can BY LAW, take their service dogs with them wherever they go, including planes, restaurants, sporting events, etc.
Many people are under the mistaken impression that therapy dogs and their handlers have the same rights of access as people with disabilities and their service animals. Therapy dogs are NOT service dogs. They are NOT allowed to accompany their handlers wherever they go. Therapy dogs are invited into hospitals, nursing homes or schools to work with patients or students on very specific tasks, or simply to bring their unconditional love to the many people who need them in these facilities. Therapy dogs and their handlers have no more rights of access than anyone with a companion animal or pet.
Therapy dogs are always first and foremost beloved family pets. You cannot “buy” a ready made therapy dog. Therapy dogs and their owners, because of their interest in therapy work have undergone additional rigorous training to prepare them to function reliably in health care or educational settings. Therapy dogs live at home with their families when they are not working.
Missing You
When visits from our troupe therapy dogs were suspended during the global pandemic our troupe members put together a video message for our friends.
(April 30, 2020)
20 Years at Loyola
Loyola Celebrates 20 Years of Pet Therapy - For 20 years, the PAWsitive Therapy Troupe has been visiting patients, families and colleagues at Loyola Medicine. These canine caregivers bring comfort, support and encouragement through the unique healing power of the human-animal bond.
(July 2017)
NBC News
PAWSitive Therapy teams on the NBC News "Making a Difference" segment -- How Therapy Dogs are Helping Sick Kids at Loyola University Medical Center.
(April 30, 2019)
PBS "In the Loop"
PAWSitive Therapy Troupe Featured on PBS's "In the Loop"
(May 25, 2017)
Amy and Buster CBS News
PAWSitive Therapy team Amy and Buster on CBS News
(February 16, 2018)