People Saving Dogs. Dogs Saving People™
In 2012, AIR began its program which improves the mental well-being of people by bringing dogs into their lives. Petting a dog releases good de-stressing brain chemicals and breaks down communication barriers.
AIR Dogs does this in several ways:
- Emotional Support Dogs placed with individuals with mental health disabilities: Our hope is to locate really great dogs in shelters and match them up with human partners who suffer from some mental health issue.
- Oliver, a Pomeranian, was matched up with Stacey in September 2012.
- Roxie, a Frengle (French Bulldog/Beagle mix), and Matthew (pictured to the right) are another success story. Roxie was placed with young Matthew and his family. Matthew’s mom reports that several months with Roxie helped Matthew more than years of therapy. Roxie can always make Matthew smile.
- AIR Dogs Exchange Meeting established: During these monthly dog-centric meetings, all humans and well-behaved dogs are welcomed. For the duration of the meeting, there are no people with disabilities, only people who love dogs.
- Certified Therapy Dogs travel with the AIR Team to student presentations, helping to make a tough topic easier for students.
- Certified Therapy Dogs attend community events, helping to break down communication barriers and start many conversations about good mental health and suicide prevention.
- AIR has placed 10 ES dogs and 1 working Service Dog. Gil McKinney, TV Star of Supernatural, was involved in our Service Dog Graduation. Video Attached : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVDaVrBwr6k&feature=youtu.be
- Tricia Baker, CPDT-KA, Therapy Dog Evaluator, Canine Good Citizen Evaluator & Certified Mental Health First Aider presents Paws for Wellness. To find out information on this one-hour presentation covering the benefits of support animals, contact us.
The AIR Dogs: Paws for Minds program has been involved with Rutgers University in a study showing the healing affects that therapy dogs have on children with autism: http://ruffloveus.wordpress.com/.
For more information and to begin the search for an emotional support animal, please contact us.