The Community Therapy Dogs Society (CTDS) is growing and currently looking for more dogs and handlers to help with its volunteer programming.

Steve King, President of CTDS shares the charitable organization started up around five years ago as Chestermere Therapy Dogs Society but after some confusion with the name, they changed it to 'Community' to better represent all the areas they serve.

"At this point, we are in eleven different communities including Cochrane. We have three programs and the first one started back in March 2014 called Listening Tails. It is a program where young kids read to dogs to improve their confidence in reading out loud and we are now running in twenty-two schools and two libraries with that program. Our second program is called, Visiting Tails and that is where we take dogs to both seniors' homes and hospitals. And the third program is called Caring Tails which is a de-stress/anxiety program where any age group can just be with the dogs for 20 minutes where they can park their problems at the door and just be with the dogs."

In Cochrane, all three programs are currently running and as of yesterday, another addition was made. "We currently have the reading program at Elizabeth Barrett and Glenbow Elementary and we have the stress/anxiety program at Bow Valley High and Cochrane High. And, literally, as of today (October 29), we started at Big Hill Lodge with the Visiting Tails program with the seniors."

King, shares the sky is the limit when it comes to how far and where they hope to expand their programming to in the future. With scientific research supporting dogs innate ability to sense when someone needs help, King feels programming CTDS provides is invaluable. "They have a natural intuition to want to help people and secondly, who they need to help the most. When we go to a new school and we just walk down one of the halls it just brings a smile to someone's face when they see a dog."

Currently, there are 86 dogs participating throughout all three programs and CTDS is completely 100% volunteer driven. King shares, not all dogs and handlers are accepted to participate in the program and could be declined due to a variety of reasons. "We just don't drag dogs off the street and call them a therapy dog, we actually go through a very rigorous assessment process which involves checking their temperament, obedience, and physical condition. We also a get a Police Check with a Vulnerable Sector for all the handlers as well."

The one question that comes up quite often for the organization is how they handle issues with allergies and what measures are in place to protect those who are allergic to canines. In the new five year agreement between CTDS and Rocky View Schools, it is clearly stated no interactions between students and therapy dogs will take place until the administrator of the school has met with the family and received signed consent forms identifying allergies and concerns regarding interactions with dogs. "Before a dog actually starts at a school, in visiting with the Principal and the teacher, we assess where they are thinking of holding the session with the dogs. The ideal location is somewhere close to the main entrance, a nice quiet room, and more importantly that the dog is not walking around the school potentially coming in contact with children who may be allergic; we try to minimize the risk."

While initially, the focus and priority for CTDS was around getting their programming information out, King says now the tables have turned. "The 'getting into' is not the problem. I often get calls from schools completely out of the blue that is interested in starting the program. It has completely changed and now there is no shortage of places wanting to start."

With programming up and running in Cochrane for just over a year, King shares they now need more handlers and dogs within the Cochrane community to expand programming. "I know we can go into two or three other seniors' homes in Cochrane and I know there are other schools looking for dogs to come in and start programming."

Community Therapy Dogs is not discriminatory against any particular breeds wishing to volunteer, says King, but they do have measures in place to weed out nonideal candidates. "We took the view from the get-go that we would not be breed specific and give every dog the opportunity to be part of the program but through our assessment, we feel that we can weed out those who are not going to make it and those who are suitable."

Having everything from Golden Retrievers, Labs, Shih Tzus, Newfies (Newfoundland) to mutts participating in the program there is not one particular breed more suitable for therapy and instead depends more on individual temperament. "On average, about 40 to 45% get through. Over the last four and a half years I have assessed around 220 dogs and we currently have 80+ in the program."

King says the organization really just started from a place of community support. "The reason we do it is just so we can be out in the community and helping people wherever we can with our therapy dogs. Our intention is just to help as many schools as we can, as many libraries that want to have the reading program and now with the hospitals, it has been a huge success with both the patients and the staff. It is quite interesting, the feeling with the teachers in the schools is now the program is a need to have rather than a nice to have. The number one issue with schools, whenever I speak to the Principal, seems to be stress with the kids so anything we can do to help bring the stress level down is what we are aiming for."

If you are interested in seeing if your four-legged friend would be a good fit for CTDS, you are invited to email King at info@ctds.ca or visit their website HERE. Assessments are done through two clinics, Heartland Veterinary Clinic in Airdrie or Chestermere Veterinary Clinic as they provide free medical assessments for potential candidates.

King is hopeful to at least add 6 to 8 handlers and dogs to the Cochrane roster. Lastly, there is no stipulation on the amount of service time an individual needs to provide nor do they believe people should pay for the privilege to volunteer. "We are just grateful for whatever time people can give us."