Paddy Ohara
Well-Known Member
Paddy O'Hara is a therapy animal. We are part of Therapy ARC in Nashville, TN. This group is an affiliate group of the Delta Society. We are also part of READing Paws which is part of Intermountain Therapy Animals. READing Paws is a group of people with their animals who work closely with schools, libraries, bookstores, etc to encourage children to read. The animals are great for this, because they do not judge the kids in anyway, just encourage them to read out loud. We are working with the reading specialist and reading with mostly 1st graders.
Miss Paddy O'Hara had her first day at school this past Monday. We didn't start off on the right track which is completely my fault. I have not been working with the harness and crate this last month. I sometimes forget she is not my dog and is still needs to review things she isn't crazy about. There was pouting for putting the harness on and then for the crate door being closed behind her even more pouting. She would not accept any treats but was not mad.
Once we arrived to our classroom, I let her out of the crate.She came out and checked out the room as if she owned it and nibbled on some books Mr. Hamilton loved her right away. She was a little shy at first with the door opening and closing and also people peeking in the window. I think she will be fine next time she visits.
She was not shy with her 8 new friends. She just loves kids and I do not have any. They came in pairs. One would pet her while the other would read the book. Finally by the 3rd group she sat down and listened. She also looked at pictures and tried to take one of the books for her own. I think she is going to improve with each visit.
I have not trained her to do anything special yet. I wanted to see how she did first. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. Socializing is my specialty. She is clicker trained and she will come on command and stand on command (along side the dog and alone). The READing program is not about animal tricks or anything but I may work on stuff relating to reading like hopping.
I can't wait to see what happens next week!
Miss Paddy O'Hara had her first day at school this past Monday. We didn't start off on the right track which is completely my fault. I have not been working with the harness and crate this last month. I sometimes forget she is not my dog and is still needs to review things she isn't crazy about. There was pouting for putting the harness on and then for the crate door being closed behind her even more pouting. She would not accept any treats but was not mad.
Once we arrived to our classroom, I let her out of the crate.She came out and checked out the room as if she owned it and nibbled on some books Mr. Hamilton loved her right away. She was a little shy at first with the door opening and closing and also people peeking in the window. I think she will be fine next time she visits.
She was not shy with her 8 new friends. She just loves kids and I do not have any. They came in pairs. One would pet her while the other would read the book. Finally by the 3rd group she sat down and listened. She also looked at pictures and tried to take one of the books for her own. I think she is going to improve with each visit.
I have not trained her to do anything special yet. I wanted to see how she did first. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. Socializing is my specialty. She is clicker trained and she will come on command and stand on command (along side the dog and alone). The READing program is not about animal tricks or anything but I may work on stuff relating to reading like hopping.
I can't wait to see what happens next week!
