Sussex County YMCA Adds Therapy Dogs to Their Wellness Talks

As part of the Active Adult Day Pot Luck Lunch/Guest Speaker program, the Sussex County YMCA has invited some four legged speakers to be included in their guest speaker line up. Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. will be discussing the wellness effect of therapy dogs November 1st at 12:15 p.m.

Attendees are welcomed to bring a covered dish to share at this pot luck lunch. The cost to attend is $5 for community members and free to Y members. Sussex County YMCA is located at 15 Wits End Road, Hardyston, NJ. RSVP of attendance at 973 209-9622. Directions can also be found on their website sussexcountyymca.org

June Golden is the Executive Director and founder of The Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs Inc. She states this about her therapy dogs:

The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization which evaluates, tests, trains and qualifies owners and their well behaved dogs as therapy dog teams. These teams give unconditional love, boost self-esteem, and relieve loneliness and boredom. Did you know petting a dog will lower your blood pressure? The benefits are endless. They work in nursing homes, hospitals, psychiatric wards, shelters, schools and many other facilities.

Pet therapists are in great demand, and there is a serious shortage of therapy dogs.

Our dogs visit children in pediatrics. Most of the children have never been away from home before. They are frightened, fearful at the prospect of having to spend the night in a big scary hospital. Sometimes the children are severely handicapped. When they visit, the dogs seem to spark a reaction no one has ever seen before. Children in hospitals hold therapy dogs while being infused with chemotherapy. Libraries and schools are discovering how reading out loud to a dog can relieve shyness and reduce inhibitions,

We visit lonely seniors in nursing and assisted living homes. The dogs and handlers provide a welcome change in their routine and often form lasting friendships with the patients. They bring back pleasant memories of family pets in days gone by.

When we visit rehabilitation facilities and hospitals, the patients are able to ease the boredom of institutional life or the pain of recent surgery by visits from a friendly face with a wagging tail. Sometimes a depressed patient who hasn’t spoken in months will have a conversation with a dog. Difficult patients can become more compliant with a furry face to convince them to take that pill.

We never charge for visitation.