Services – B side U™

In general terms, a therapy dog is a specially trained dog, paired with a human partner, who together provide comfort, companionship, and emotional support to individuals, families, and facilities. The dogs are not service animals and don't have public access rights like guide dogs, but they offer a range of benefits, including:

• Unconditional love, companionship, comfort and support
• Development of empathy and compassion
• Improved social skills, interactions and relationship building
• Confidence building
• Lower blood pressure and stress
• Improved mood, feeling of wellbeing
• Increased workplace attendance
• Feeling of being “safe”
• Distraction from trauma, illness, disability, etc

A therapy dog service is not about just dropping a dog off, and leaving them to see what happens. The dogs are approved with their human partner as a team, and they always work together to deliver a quality service appropriate to the circumstances.

Golden Retrievers make great therapy dogs due to their inherently friendly, gentle, and calm nature, high intelligence, and eagerness to please. Their natural empathy allows them to connect with people's emotions, and their trainability makes them reliable companions for a variety of therapy tasks. They are also patient, tolerant, and enjoy providing comfort.

Temperament and personality

• Friendly and gentle: They have a natural instinct to comfort people and are known for their sociable and compassionate demeanor. They are patient, especially with children, and have a calm nature that is well-suited for therapy work.
• Empathetic: They are unusually empathetic and possess an incredible ability to sense and respond to human emotions. Some research suggests a genetic mutation leads to a higher production of oxytocin, strengthening their bond with humans.
• Reliable and calm: Golden Retrievers are not easily flustered by new situations or sudden noises, making them a reliable presence in various environments.

Trainability and intelligence

• Highly intelligent: Their intelligence makes them quick learners.
• Eager to please: They have a strong work ethic and a desire to please their handlers, which makes them highly trainable for therapy and service roles.
• Good recall: They are often food-motivated and have a natural ability to work with their handler, which simplifies the training process.

Physical and behavioural traits

• Love of retrieving: Their natural instinct to retrieve can be useful in therapy tasks, such as fetching items.
• "Soft mouth": They can carry items gently in their mouths without damaging them, a helpful trait for therapy work.
• "Leaners": They often enjoy physical contact and will lean against people for comfort, which can be comforting to a person in need.