Westminster Teams Up With Therapy Dogs

Say “Westminster” and most people think of the King of Dog Shows — the Westminster Kennel Club Show held in New York City every February. They probably don’t think of therapy dogs. Yet the Westminster folks have been hard at work with a very special program called Angel On A Leash that brings a lot of joy to the lives of children at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York-Presbyterian.

Angel On A Leash is a therapy dog program that integrates dogs into pediatric patient care. Organizations such as the Good Dog Foundation, the Delta Society and Vancouver Therapy Dogs provided training for the very special dogs who are part of the program, as well as for their human partners.

The dogs and people of the program, including patients, families, and hospital staff, were introduced live at the Westminater Kennel Club show in Madison Square Garden. They received a rousing standing ovation from the capacity crowd, as well as exposure on the national telecast on USA Network. Among the therapy dogs is the famous Josh (Ch. Darbydale’s All Rise Pouch Cove), the Newfoundland who won Best In Show at Westminster in 2004. Josh is retired now and is a certified therapy dog for owners Dave and Peggy Helming and Carol Bergmann.

As you can imagine, being in the hospital can be very frightening for a child. It’s scary to be away from home, being sick, and perhaps facing medical procedures. Angel On A Leash brings the therapy dogs to the hospital to visit with the kids and cheer them up. Sometimes just having a dog to hug and talk to for a little while can make things seem a lot better.

Angels On A Leash bring smiles to kids at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.

Medical studies have shown that the use of therapy dogs can reduce stress for pediatric patients (and other patients) and help their families cope. Scientific studies are showing the many benefits of using therapy animals, ranging from encouraging smiles and conversation to motivating people during physical therapy.

“Therapy dogs connect patients, especially those who are suffering from chronic illness, to the outside world. The program brings unconditional love from an animal to the bedside, which greatly contributes to the emotional and physical healing process,” said Joan Bompane, Director of Child Life at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.

According to Peter R. Van Brunt, President of the Westminster Kennel Club, “Westminster is much more than an annual dog show. Westminster is a celebration of the dog as an important part of our lives. Our partnership with Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital is affirmation of our belief that our dogs make our lives happier and healthier, something that we have been showing the world for more than 125 years.”

For information about Angel On A Leash, call (212) 213-3212 or e-mail david@angelonaleash.com. You’ll probably get to talk to the very nice David Frei who hosts the Westminster Kennel Club broadcast for the USA Network each year. He’s very involved with Angel On A Leash and he’s the Director of Communications for the Westminster Kennel Club.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 10:18 am and is filed under General Dogs' Topics, Service Dog Hall of Fame. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.