My dog would be a great therapy dog! My journey in brief(ish) with Paws4Minds

Hi, hope your day is going well?

I have lost count the amount of times I have heard people say "My dog would be a great therapy dog"

I don't take offence though sometimes it is frustrating, I wouldn't tell someone I'd be great at doing their job 🤣, Imagine meeting a teacher and telling them how great at teaching you would be or telling an electrician you could re-wire a house, with no experience, training or qualifications.

I do understand that everyone wants to see the best in their dog, they are like our children.

The dog plays a big part (obviously) but there is so much more than having a nice temprament.

I worked over 13 years running my own Pet Care business. 13 years of walking other peoples dogs.

As I set up my previous business, I also studied City & Guilds Level 3 in Kennel & Cattery Management. I received the highest pass mark too.

The course covered 'Canine communication'- Dogs communicate through body language. I studied and learnt how dogs use their body language and how they read ours.

UK Dog laws- People often don't realise the UK dog laws and their responsabilities, for example if your dog is off leash & something happens, you could be prosecuted as you are respnsible

Dog health & zoonotic diseases- Symptoms of illness in our dogs and also what illness, diseases can be transmitted from dogs to humans.

I haven't stopped there with studying, I gained my CPCAB Mental Health Awareness Level 5 Diploma during June 2024. I am qualified to coach, teach & design courses related to mental health & wellbeing topics. For my final presentation 'I presented Mental Health & the benefits of therapy dogs'- I received so much positive feedback and my Course tutors told me I have a unique tool with Noodle & to be positive & get out their supporting adolesents 😊

Recently I started my ARC Trauma informed training

During November I take my ARC Trauma informed PRE-REQUISITE to becoming an ARC Champion

Stress and Trauma are two areas I am passionate about. There is so much misundertsanding, misinformation and to some extent ignorance about stress and trauma but both often shape our mental health.

Often UK society lacks empathy, people are quick to judge with out thinky why people may behave the way they do, it doesnt mean we exuse certain behaviours, far from it but if we can understand past experiences, what is going on now in peoples lives, we have a much better chance of positive outcomes and changes in mindset & decision making.

With Noodle we can help people. He helps people to relax, open up. He gets people to engage and intereact in such a calm manner. He is playful but adapts to people, it is a fantastic talent he posesses and he enjoys being around people.