Dog Participates in Marathon

Spring is definitely marathon season, with big local races like the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and the Crescent City Classic here in New Orleans, and then national races like the Boston Marathon. For one man, this marathon season is extra special.

Mr. Kelly has run in 19 marathons, which is already impressive to me, so why will his 20th be any different or more spectacular? Because a lot has happened to him between then and now. This will be his first full marathon since an industrial accident, stroke, and bicycle accident shattered an arm and limited the use of one foot, among other things. Oh, and did I mention that he was born blind in one eye?

As you might suspect, he has not let any of his medical issues stop him, but he is also smart about it. Four years ago he got Murphy, a Rhodesian ridgeback dog, to walk with him. Murphy was made for walking he found out after doing some research. It turns out that this breed of dog was used to hunt lions in Africa and they need long walks to be at their best.

Normally, dogs aren't allowed in the marathons, but Dan Kelly was able to get special permission for Murphy to accompany him. They will both be wearing t-shirts with "assisted walker" and their race number to identify that they are together. Their pace might be a little slower than the other runners, but they should still be able to finish the race. (They've been walking a mile in 12-13 minutes and the sweeper truck does a mile in 13 minutes and 42 seconds.)

So if you get a second today, think about Dan and Murphy as they race in the Pittsburgh Marathon.

***This is another big race going on today as well, the Maryland Half-Marathon. Last year, it passed by Dozer (the goldendoodle's) house and he got through his invisible fence to join the race. There's video of him crossing the finish line after running 8 miles. This year, he's fundraising on behalf of the half-marathon and the donations are going to the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center.***

***UPDATE*** They've posted the results of the Pittsburgh Marathon and Dan Kelly finished the race! Congrats to him and Murphy!

I Know it's Cinco de Mayo but...

There are so many options of places to volunteer or intern to do animal assisted therapy around the world, I didn't want to just limit this list to Mexico. (although one called Casi has a fabulous photo gallery you should check out)

I do want to put this disclaimer out there, I've not used any of these companies nor am I being paid by any of them. I just thought it would be something interesting to post about since summer is coming up. Maybe you haven't figured out what you want to do in your time off. Maybe you're due for a vacation. Here are some options that you can look into.

You can travel to Chile and practice Equine Facilitated Learning as you work with children with mental and emotional disorders. (Make sure you can speak Spanish well and have at least 4 weeks that you can commit to being there.)

If you want to focus more on the physical benefits of working with horses, Argentina has a good project in place for you. They focus on movement, posture, and muscle control of the rider, to aid physical recovery. Another plus about this one is that you don't have to commit to a full month.

Maybe your Spanish isn't so good. Then Aldeas de Paz in Venezuela might be more your speed. They also work with horses, this time with disadvantaged youth, and they allow volunteers with limited Spanish. You can also go through Frontier to set this placement up.

Working with horses might not be all that you want to do. In Ecuador, you work in an orphanage in the morning and then assist with "Horse Guided Empowerment" lessons in the afternoon. The cool thing about this one is that the money you pay ($500 per month) to volunteer there, actually finances clients who can't pay.

Costa Rica sounds more like a vacation destination for some people. You can volunteer there too! Eden Ranch teaches you all about horses, as well as gardening. On their website they mention "each year Eden Ranch provides riding lesson, day camps and adventure trail rides to children who are at risk, disabled or have special needs." You can stay for as short as 2 weeks.

Speaking of disabled, Cape Town offers equine therapy to physically disabled children. This program have been in place since 1983 so it is well established. If you're looking for something to do for the majority of the summer, this might be it. The time span can be anywhere from 8-26 weeks.


I know not everyone is interested in working with horses. The Institute for Cultural Ecology has an animal assisted therapy placement for you lovers of other animals. Some of the animal shelters that you can intern at have visiting pet programs, where they take the shelter animals to nursing homes and health care facilities. I'm not sure which locations offer this but the company has placements in Fiji, New Zealand, France, Thailand and Napal to name a few locations.

And of course, for some of you the US is "abroad". Here's a list of Animal Assisted Therapy volunteer, internship, and educational opportunities available in the United States.

***Update: I just got an e-mail back from CISabroad. They advertise that they can create internships to fit you so I had asked about animal assisted therapy and this was their response:
Hi Sarah. It's very likely, but we can't know for sure until we know your credentials and can begin the search process in our placement networks! We customize each internship based on your background, relevant skills and what's available in our host locations. That may be a new placement type for us, but nothing is impossible! In the case we can't find that specific type of placement, you don't lose anything. It might be easier to correspond via email/phone, so please visit the following link to start the process:http://www.cisabroad.com/contact-advisor
Thanks!

They too have placements all over the world, so check them out if you don't see what you want already listed.

Respect for Chickens Day

I don't plan on writing about every wacky animal holiday, but May 4th is International Respect for Chickens Day and I have some interesting chicken stories that I've wanted to share.

Earlier last month I ran across an obituary for a chicken. His name was Mr. Fluffy Pants, which already tells you that he's not your average rooster. He spent his entire life at Green Chimneys where he helped to educate nursing home residents and school children alike. There was a line that struck me: "It just seems fitting to tell everyone about Fluffy Pants having died- or maybe, to tell everyone that he had lived." After reading that, I'm sad that I never got to meet him but I'm glad that he was able to touch so many people while he was still alive.

Otis was a rooster that I worked with.

On a happier note, I read an article about a woman that brings a chicken and Cornish hen specifically to facilities with older adults. Her reasoning is that many older people grew up with chickens. Carlita and Alex (the birds) have proved to be a huge hit. She calls their group "Fowl Play". I saw the same type of response when I drove the Zoomobile and would bring chickens to adult facilities. People loved to share stories of their experiences (both good and bad) with hens and roosters.

A few days ago, I stumbled across a blog called Coop & Cottage and I'm so glad that I did! Chicken Therapy is an absolutely lovely post about why chickens are great for the teenage years. Debbie explains that chickens are good for both for the parents "they cannot roll their eyes" and the actual teenager "they don't ask if your bed is made". (Memo to self, when I become a parent to a teenager, get chickens!) I really enjoyed her style of writing and found what she had to say, very interesting. I ended up reading all of her posts after Chicken Therapy and when I get some more free time I'm excited to go back and read the older posts.

If after reading all of this you have a newfound respect for chickens and are interested in learning more about owning them I have one more link for you. This blog, Restoring the Roost, is by another chicken lover. She has posts about things like Chicken First Aid, and how to make a Chicken Saddle (for hens when the rooster is too rough).

So now, I hope you will "give a cluck" about chickens because they are excellent therapy animals for people of all ages.

Rudy- The Tortoise with Heart

Today (May 3rd) is National Specially-Abled Pets Day. So I wanted to share the story of an animal that I work with that is "specially-abled".

His name is Rudy and he's a gopher tortoise.

Gopher tortoises are called that because they are amazing diggers, like their mammal namesake. They are known for digging tunnels (up to 40 feet long) with a den at the end. These underground burrows are havens to more than 80 different species including endangered animals like Louisiana pine snakes, indigo snakes, and the Florida mouse. Rudy was actually doing what normal gopher tortoises do when he ran into some trouble, a lawnmower to be specific. When the man discovered the tortoise, he brought him to the Audubon Zoo in hopes that the veterinarians could help him.

Rudy lost one of his front legs, but looking at the slice missing out of his shell, it's amazing that he wasn't killed. Now that he only has 3 legs, he couldn't be released because he would no longer be able to dig a burrow for protection. So he lives at the zoo in the Children's Zoo area and was named "Rudy" because like the football player, he's got a lot of heart.

I love taking Rudy out for children to see. Usually when I place him on the ground so they can watch him move, the kids laugh at him initially because it's a little awkward. Like all turtles/tortoises, he lifts his shell off of the ground to walk, but when it's time for his front leg to move, he tips forward on his missing leg's side. Rudy does not give up though. He continues to move forward, albeit a little slower than "normal" gopher tortoises. And soon, the children start cheering him on. They go from being bullies to being advocates and I think that Rudy teaches them perfectly; we should be empathetic to others that might be different than us on the outside. We are all walking through this life together.


If you want to learn about other "specially-abled" animals that help others. you can read my posts about Faith, a dog that walks on her two hind legs giving encouragement to amputees, or the Tennessee Safety Spotters, a group of Deaf Dalmatians that teach kids about safety and Deafness.

Special thanks to my friend Amanda Mazzoni for her fabulous pictures of Rudy.

The Gentle Barn

If you haven't heard of The Gentle Barn before, you will know all about it after watching this TV special.

I find the story incredibly inspiring. Ellie Laks found a way to accomplish her dream of working with animals as healers while they are receiving healing themselves. And she was able to do it with no business background or even a well thought out plan (at least initially). Not only has she been able to accomplish this, but she's been extremely successful. The Gentle Barn will be celebrating it's 12th birthday this summer.

I want to do something similar and I've felt that my dream is out of reach because I don't have any business or entrepreneurial experience. Ellie Laks gives me the motivation to keep on believing in my dream, and more importantly, to actually jump in and get it started.

Seizure Service Dogs

Dogs are known for both their sense of smell and their loyalty. Both of these qualities are come in handy when the dog's job is to care for their owner before, during and/or after a seizure.

There are different types of seizure service dogs; seizure alert, seizure response, and seizure assistance. The role of the seizure alert dog is to detect the impending seizure and signal the owner. Hopefully, this will give the person enough time to either take anti-seizure medication, or at least get to a place that minimizes potential dangers. This of course requires a strong relationship between the human and dog. They need to be able to read each others' body language. The dog has to detect the subtle changes their owner might display before a seizure, meanwhile the human needs to understand when their dog is trying to warn them. This partnership could take time to develop and it is thought that over time, some dogs have been able to detect seizures using their sense of smell.

 Here's one young girl's story about her relationship with her seizure alert dog.

A seizure response or seizure assistance dog is taught to react when the owner is experiencing a seizure. The dogs are usually trained to stand by, or over their owner throughout the seizure. This ensures that the person will be kept safe during the seizure and it allows them to see a familiar face once the seizure is over. The dogs can be taught to retrieve and/or use a pre-programmed phone to call for help if their owner needs it. Many of the stories I was reading about involved children with seizure assistance dogs, so the phone wouldn't necessarily be as important since most of the children would have an adult within earshot of warning barks. Also, seizure service dogs wear a harness with pockets where medication, a phone, and medical information can be stored so if an adult does have a seizure out in public, a passerby could convey that information to emergency medical services as needed.

An older girl shows how her alert dog is "on-duty" even as she's getting ready for bed.

Last January, a school barred a boy's seizure alert dog, but then the officials overturned their decision after his story got media attention. I don't know if the boy ended up going back to school or not, but it is a shame that he was put in the position to choose between his education and his safety. His seizure assistance dog actually had a magnet on her collar that she was trained to swipe over a nerve simulator in the boy's chest when he was having (or about to have) a seizure. This would lessen the effects of his seizure.

If you'd like to know more about seizure service dogs, the Delta Society has a great pdf document  that talks about different breeds, how the dogs help, and where to get one, among other things.

National Pet Day!

April 11th is National Pet Day which was created by Colleen Paige, Celebrity Pet Lifestyle Expert and Animal Welfare Advocate.

I am lucky enough that I own both a dog and a cat, but when I was little that wasn't the case. I'm one of 6 children and when we would ask for a pet, our parents' clever response was "we have enough animals in the house".

If I had done some research, I might have had some reasons for why having a pet is a good idea. (Beyond wanting one more friend to play with)

Here's a slideshow called 27 Ways Pets Can Improve Your Health. Maybe you will have better luck convincing those in your life that getting a pet is actually good for you!

P.S. What do you think about the above collection of animals as pets? Are there any that you wouldn't consider a good pet?