Professional Pet Businesses

Leading pet insurer British Pet Insurance Services has launched dedicated insurance for anyone in the UK running a pet business or service.

Called ‘Professional’ it offers pet business insurance tailored to protect those running pet businesses including dog walkers, pet sitters, home boarders, pet groomers, pet taxis, pet trainers and pet micro chippers.  The insurance covers a range of animals including dogs, cats, and small mammals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, degus or ferrets.

The pet care industry has managed to remain resistant during COVID-19.  Mintel’s latest statistics show that UK pet owners will spend over £2 billion on pet care and services by 2023. The latest statistics from the PFMA reveal there are currently 9 million dogs and 7.5 million cats in the UK and British Pet Insurance Services predicts this figure is set to rise as more people consider purchasing a pet.

As lockdown eases there is also likely to be a boom for pet businesses as Britain’s dogs head back to day care, grooming and holiday boarding.  Many in the pet care industry have put new measures in place to ensure social distancing and best practices are observed as part of their new service.

Andy Pearce, CEO of British Pet Insurance Services, said: “We want to help pet businesses in the UK have the best possible protection. The impending return to work for many, as lockdown relaxes, will inevitably lead to an increased demand in pet-related service requirements and as part of the new measures pet businesses are putting in place they should also look at their business insurance to ensure it is right for them.”

Professional insurance from British Pet Insurance Services allows business owners to tailor their policies. Standard cover for the new policy includes up to £5,000,000 public liability, including cover for four shows or events per year in connection with the business and up to £30,000 care, custody, and control of animal negligence cover, including injury or loss of an animal.

Tailored options include loss of business stock or equipment; theft of keys, care, custody and control of animals (non-negligence cover); employers’ liability, professional indemnity, personal accident and even loss of business cash.

Andy Pearce continued: “Pet businesses can tailor our insurance to their business. We want to provide a safety net, for example should the worst happen and a pet escapes or injures themselves or others. As a business owner, if you are held responsible costs could run into thousands. Having insurance provides peace of mind and financial assistance. Pet owners want the best for their pets so it’s essential to safeguard your reputation and business.”

Loving Canines Of America

Guide Dogs of America, a non-profit organization that empowers the blind and visually impaired to live with greater confidence, mobility and independence, recently announced their merger with Tender Loving Canines in an effort to provide even more services to Veterans, Individuals with Autism and facilities in need – ultimately transforming lives through partnerships with service dogs.

The newly formed organization will be headquartered in Sylmar, California, on Guide Dogs of America’s 7.5-acre campus. TLCAD will retain its name and local offices in San Diego, California.

“TLCAD shares our goal to transform the lives of people through partnerships with highly trained assistance dogs,” said Russell Gittlen, president of Guide Dogs of America. “This merger will allow us to put more dogs into the hands of people that need them – which is our ultimate mission.”

All programs and services are provided at no cost to the recipients, and will be offered to individuals throughout the United States and Canada.

What is a Guide Dog versus a Service Dog?

A Guide Dog is a type of service dog that is specifically trained to assist someone who is disabled by a visual impairment/blindness. A guide dog can help their visually impaired partner confidently navigate the world by avoiding obstacles, remembering common routes, stopping at changes in elevation and avoiding traffic.

A Service Dog is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual or other mental disability. Other service dogs can assist veterans, individuals with learning disabilities and other disabled populations. Service dogs that are not in the guide dog category may perform behaviors that interrupt physiological responses to stress. They can also assist with mobility limitations, retrieving objects, opening doors, etc.

The work that is done through Guide Dogs of America and Tender Loving Canines would not be possible without the contributions of generous donors. More than 170 fundraising events are hosted on an annual basis across the US and Canada – however with COVID-19, many 2020 events were cancelled, which is why they need your help now more than ever.

To mark this momentous occasion, Guide Dogs of America is celebrating the many contributions of their staff, volunteers, partners and students. Funds raised this season will allow them to continue providing Guide Dogs and Service Dogs free of charge to qualified recipients.

K-9 Therapy Dog Jamboree

Jamboree plopped on the floor belly up with paws in the air. If dogs could smile, she would be grinning from ear to ear. Rolling around on her back, she offered up her tummy for scratches as her handler and therapy dog coordinator Laurie Schwabauer leaned down to oblige.

Immediately, any tension seemingly dissipated from the room as the 4-year-old German Shephard did precisely what she was trained to do – make people feel more relaxed – particularly innocent children up against the daunting task of testifying in court.

As a therapy dog, Jamboree has been extensively trained to sit quietly out of view under the witness stand in a courtroom, where children can easily pet her or lean a foot against her side to help make them feel safe and not alone. Since legally Jamboree cannot be seen by the jury, a big part of her training is making sure she sits perfectly still, while also helping the children remain calm.

In her two years with the team, Jamboree has already stockpiled a long list of accolades. Along with being a specialty trained and nationally certified K-9 advocate, she also has a unique skillset as both a working psychiatric medical alert service dog for panic disorders as well as a second certification geared to helping those with anxiety disorders and stress.

She’s also logged about 300 hours of foundation and advanced obedience task and public access training, including devoting hours of training to prepare her to work obediently and unobtrusively in public places. In May, the pup completed her final phase of courtroom orientation training with the ability to perform more than 40 commands. This is just one of the ways that the Visitation and Advocacy Center (VAC), formerly CASA, helps advocate and give a voice to children in need throughout Campbell, Weston and Crook counties. Along with their in-house facility/therapy dog, VAC also has 53 volunteer advocates who currently help more than 200 local children in need. The organization receives all child abuse and neglect cases throughout the three counties and serves as the voice for children in and out of court.

Many times, during a juvenile case, a child tends to become lost. An advocate is there to ensure that this doesn’t happen, becoming familiar with the child in order to assist in doing what is in his/her best interest.

Along with advocating for children, VAC also facilitates supervised visitation for parents, including working with parents to create a co-parenting custody plan that’s in the best interest of the child(ren), while also allowing both parents to play a significant role in their lives.

To this end, they also offer light mediation and assistance filing Pro Se Orders and help with filing documents.

Their office on S. Carey Avenue also serves as a neutral and judgement-free place for parents to exchange children according to their custodial rights.  Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, the group stayed busy. Over the last year, they’ve facilitated 678 visits and 621 exchanges, helping 2,330 individual clients for a total of 971 hours. During COVID-19, their services were slightly altered when their office was closed and staff members ere forced to work from home, but now they are back in the office and offering all of their normal services, which given the stress on many families during this time, are arguably more important today than ever. VAC is always looking for volunteer advocates, Hyde said.

As the staff likes to say, it’s an investment of a just a little time, but a lot of heart.

A mainstay in the community for years, VAC has been helping Northeast Wyoming parents create and maintain co-parenting custody plans for their child or children, offering a safe place for parents to visit and exchange children, as well as serving as advocates for children both inside and out of the courtroom.

Advocate training is offered monthly, both in-person and via Zoom.

Therapy Pup Dogtor

When the scrubs and white coat go on, Loki knows it’s time to work. The almost 3-year-old Rottweiler was a therapy dog at the University of Maryland Medical Center before the coronavirus pandemic. With visitation restrictions, Loki and her owner, Caroline Benzel, felt helpless. That’s when Benzel came up with a way they could help overwhlemed front line workers with “Dogtor Loki Hero Healing Kits.”

“I was trying to figure out ways to support the staff because they’re already friends of mine … They all know Loki very well,” Benzel, 30, a third year medical student at University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, told TODAY. “I rallied my neighborhood and got a bunch of donations and just called out on all of Loki’s social media and people started flooding us with donations.”

The kits include pretty much everything a hospital employee working a 12-hour shift would want, such as lip balm, baby powder, petroleum jelly, hypoallergenic lotion, tea, instant coffee and snack bars. The items just offer stressed workers a bit of comfort. They also come with a “thank you” from the pooch with a picture of her wearing scrubs. So far, Benzel distributed about 5,500 kits across the country and inspired others to make their own to share. The response was overwhelming.

“I’ve gotten a lot of thank you letters. People have sent Loki gifts, even some people sent dog toys,” she said. “I’ve just gotten a lot of really incredible things.”

But it’s what people say that touches Benzel the most. After she sent kits to a nurse manager at a California hospital for his employees, his response stunned her.

“He ended up writing me back this really beautiful long email and said he found that the people who make the best doctors aren’t necessarily the smartest people but the ones with the biggest hearts. He said he thought I would be successful,” she recalled. “I just thought that was really amazing.” Benzel raises money to make the kits. While they help health care workers smile when it’s most needed, Loki has continued working as a therapy dog  virtually. It’s even more important now as COVID-19 protocols cause patients to be isolated.

“The patients are pretty much stuck in their rooms for their own safety. So, we would sit outside in my front yard where I’m next to a golf course and there’s all this greenery and birds chirping,” Benzel explained. “I was hoping it would give them a sense of normalcy.”

Loki lays her head in Benzel’s lap while they chat. “It’s almost like Loki understands what’s going on and she hangs, which is pretty amazing,” she said. “Obviously, it doesn’t make up for not having Loki there in person. But it definitely at least shows we’re still there in spirit and support.”

When Loki worked in the hospital, she encouraged non-compliant patients to do their physical therapy, and she helped those with “white coat syndrome” relax. Seeing a 100-plus pound dog dressed as a doctor put everyone at ease.

Benzel wanted people to feel comfortable around Loki, even though she’s a breed often feared, so that’s why she decided to dress up the pooch. When she collaborated with co-workers, Loki ended up with scrubs and a custom white coat embroidered with her name on it.

“(The uniform department employees) all loved Loki and they offered to get me scrubs for her,” she explained. “There was never any question about the big black dog when she started wearing her scrubs. Everyone would just laugh when they see her walking down the hallway.”

Working with Loki in the hospital — and now virtually — also helps Benzel as she grapples with the stress of medical school and the pandemic.

“Loki was therapeutic for me being a medical student and helping me feel like I’m actually doing something that’s giving back,” she said.

School Gets New Therapy Dogs

Therapy Dogs Pet Parade

During these strange times, many organizations have found creative ways to give back to the communities they serve. One local group is making their rounds to area hospitals to show they care.

Many people would see furry friends pass by outside of some hospitals, and this is a way to comfort people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the past, Therapy Dogs United worked with local hospitals to allow their patients to have quality time with trained service dogs.

With hospitals on lockdown to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, there is still work to be done.

That’s why the organization is going from hospital to hospital, holding “Pet Parades” outside.

Their goal is to help raise the spirits of patients, as well as front line health care workers.

Earlier this month, they visited Saint Vincent Hospital. Later Thursday morning, they will be marching around LECOM and Millcreek Community Hospital on their mission to spread smiles.

The parade is set to step off at 11:30 a.m. at Millcreek Community Hospital.

Pups Are Training And Graduating

Four soon-to-be Seeing Eye dogs are ready to move on to the next phase of their training after spending almost a year in Saskatchewan.

Indy, Percy, Wallace and Lulu are four black lab puppies who have spent the last 11 months doing the basic Seeing Eye dog training with the Canadian Institute for the Blind (CNIB).

The four pups arrived in Saskatchewan in August 2019. Indy and Percy have now graduated and are moving to Carleton Place, ON, to begin the next phase of formal training. Wallace and Lulu will move in the fall.

Kerry Macdonald volunteered to raise Indy and has been with him for the last year.

“Stay. Keeping off the couch – all the things they want us to teach – always a challenge,” said Macdonald. “But the great thing about it was a sense of accomplishment every time you got to a new stage – they suddenly start doing what they’re supposed to be doing – you’re like, ‘yes! Let’s go!’”

“They’re still puppies,” said puppy raising supervisor Kezia Gray. “We just really want the volunteers to lay a foundation. At the end of it, we just want a happy, fairly well behaved, puppy and that’s what we’ve got

Guide dogs allow for blind or partially sighted people to have independence they would not otherwise have.

“Being able to get up and go out of your home independently and not rely on someone to guide you or to rely on your white cane,” said Christall Beaudry, Executive Director for CNIB Saskatchewan. “But to have this companion with you that you trust and will take you around – it’s a huge support.”

Beaudry says raising the dogs in Saskatchewan better equips them for the harsh Canadian climate. CNIB is also hoping to get more puppies in the fall.

“We started our program only two years ago,” said Beaudry. “We’ve slowly been expanding and we’re looking forward to expanding in our province.”

Gray says only about 50 per cent of the guide dogs around the world who enter the next phase of training become full Seeing Eye dogs. Others become service dogs elsewhere. However, dogs who have training through CNIB see a 65 per cent graduation rate.

Macdonald is sad to have his time with Indy end, but knows he is off to help someone who is in need.

“He loves to train. He loves to be active. I think he’s going to excel at being a guide dog. Someone’s going to get a great dog.”

CNIB is looking for volunteers to raise puppies as they continue to expand their guide dog program. They say raising a guide dog is more intensive than raising a normal pet and the time needed to invest into the dog is more demanding.

Family In Need Of A Service Dog

 

Getting a service animal for those with a medical disability can be difficult, and the lack of resources is causing the Redmond parents of a 5-year-old boy to exhaust all of their finances.

Jaeden Thomas loves dinosaurs and playing in his backyard. He was diagnosed around age 3 with autism and ADHD, as well as neurological issues that cause seizures.

Over the years, Jaeden has seen a multitude of behavioral specialists and speech therapists, but he still struggles with his cognitive development and person to person interactions.

The boy father, Randy Thomas said Wednesday, “In the last four months, we have an estimate, I’d say a dozen doctor’s visits and five procedures. Quite honestly, it’s crippling.”

Jaeden is the youngest child of Randy and Ola Thomas. Because Jaeden is autistic, yet full of energy and still going through many developmental changes, they want to get him a service dog.

Ola, Jaeden’s mother, said a service animal is different than an emotional support animal. She said the dog would be trained to recognize certain cries from Jaeden, as well as be able to take the pressure or roughness of a little boy and prevent him from bolting or running which can lead to him harming himself.

Randy Thomas said he quickly realized resources for people with medical disabilities were far and few in between. He said the search for a service animal for Jaeden has become a very costly rabbit hole.

“Without going into bankruptcy, there is no way to get a service animal for Jaeden — there is just no way,” he said.

Thomas said they’ve researched organizations, and have looked into the Central Oregon Disability Support Network resources. They applied for the Rising Stars Fund and was awarded $400 to help offset the cost of getting a service animal.

Dianna Hansen, executive director of CODSN, said a service animal can cost anywhere between $15,000 and $30,000.

The difference in price of service animals is dependent on the customized training the animal will undergo, as many service animals are trained to support more than one need.

Hansen said it’s very rare that service animals are covered by insurance providers. and Medicaid does not cover them, especially now, amid budget cuts.

The Thomas family has started a GoFundMe page to outsource funds to get Jaeden a service dog. It’s called Jaeden’s Dream and Protector.

The Thomases said they want their son to grow up as a happy, well-adjusted boy.

“That would be my goal,” Randy Thomas said. “For him to grow up and play sports, and not be in special classes his whole life. Is a service animal the end all be all? No, its going to take a lot of work from me and mom. But ultimately, I think it would be a huge, soothing friend — and ‘keep him out of trouble’ tool.”

Captains First Birthday

Service Dog Gets Help From Church

A popular Edmond comfort dog hasn’t been able to do his usual work due to the pandemic.

For years, Rufus, of the St. Mark Lutheran Church, has been visiting disaster sites, nursing homes and hospitals.

“Through this very handsome animal, we’ve been able to make contact with thousands of people in Texas and Oklahoma,” Pastor Mark Erler said.

However, COVID-19 has interrupted the dog’s normal routine.

“He’s normally seeing lots and lots of people every week and now he just basically sees my wife, and my two children and me,” Erler said.

While lockdown is good downtime for Rufus to just be a pet, he misses his work.

The congregation at St. Mark is working to keep his skills sharp.

Rufus sleeps over at handler John Over’s once in a while to break up the boredom

“We’ll do a sleepover. He’ll come over here. We will play with him,” Over said.

Over practices Rufus’ commands to keep his mind sharp.

“I have noticed occasionally sometimes he’s a little slow to responding to commands, but overall he seems to be retaining it fairly well,” Over said.

When social distancing is over, Rufus will be back out where he’s needed most.