More and more therapist, doctors and mental health professionals are becoming aware of the wonderful therapeutic benefits of involving dogs in patient recovery. Dogs are used with brain injury patients, elderly, physically impaired as well as patients in hospitals and treatment centers. The very nature of a dog, its loyalty, unconditional love and its pure joy at seeing a friend really make them a wonderful asset to any therapy program.

Therapy that involves dogs, known as Animal-Assisted therapy, is used in many different settings in several different countries. The dogs can be involved in helping with fine motor control as the patients move their arms and fingers to pet and brush the dogs as part of their therapy process. Large muscle therapy is also completed when the patients take the dogs for walks or on outings to parks and recreational areas.

Therapy dogs are not a specific breed or type of dog, nor do they have to a certain age or size. Usually therapy dogs are medium to large sized dogs but there are many small dogs that make excellent therapy dogs. Many organizations that use therapy dogs have volunteer owners and dogs come to the hospital or care facility and work in conjunction with the health care professionals and trained therapists on staff.

Therapy dogs must be very calm and well behaved. They should have no history of any kind of aggression or lack of obedience in new or unfamiliar settings. The dogs should be very well socialized and should not be prone to barking or whining as this can be disturbing to the clients as well as other patients in the facility.

Most therapists require that the therapy dogs do through special obedience and possibly other training. The dogs are taken in and out of the facility many times before they actually start working with the patients and clients. In addition both the owner and the facility will need to carry special insurance on the therapy dog to cover any possible events.

If you have a dog that loves people, is very calm and relaxed even in new situations, has lots of patience and is very obedient you may want to volunteer with a dog therapy service. The internet is a great place to start your search for agencies, or contact your local hospital or long-term care facility to find if dog therapy is being used in your area.

Every year thousands of pets are poisoned at home. You can make your house safer with just a few adjustments. Here are a few helpful hints.

Use screens and guard rails on all windows. Pets are tempted to jump out when they feel the fresh air

Pets that play around curtains and blinds with strings can get strangled. Cut off all strings and replace it with fabric.

Don’t smoke in the house. Birds can die from second hand smoke. Cats and dogs can get serious illnesses from the smoke.

Don’t let your bird fly around when the fan is on.

Cats and dogs can burn their paws and even cause your house to go on fire

No tinsel on the Christmas tree. It can cause intestinal blockages if eaten. No strings of popcorn either. Any strings can cause choking.

Poinsettia leaves are highly toxic to pets. Also lilies, the Easter and tiger varieties. Eating even a small piece can cause your pet kidney damage. Also keep them away from ferns, mistletoe and holly. No plants with pets is an even better idea

Keep all breakable items away from pets. Any small broken piece can cause cuts to their paws or mouths

Keep all your medicines in a locked closet or drawer. Dogs can chew threw child safe bottles.

Keep the seat down. Any small kitten can drown in the toilet. Never let the dog drink the toilet water. If you tub is clogged, keep the door closed until all water is gone

Keep all hair dryers, curling irons and hot rollers away from pets until they are cool. A bird might think a curling iron is a perch

Cats sometimes go into engines to keep warm (also the wheel wells). The best thing is to check your car by banging on the hood before you start the engine.And keep your cats indoors

If you live in a cold climate you only safe de-icers. Dogs paws can be irritated by these chemicals. Always wash their paws with warm water when they come in

It has a sweet smell and taste to animals. So it should always to keep away from them. Even a small amount is lethal

Keep all tools (rakes, hedge trimmers) locked up in a shed or garage.

Get child safety locks installed even if you don’t have small children. Your pet could get into the cabinet when you are not home and eat or inhale poisonous cleaners.

Keep all cans closed with tight lids. Any re-cycling of metal (lids from cans) can cut pets or even stray animals mouths. Place all garbage in bags

Clean up all food leftovers after each meal immediately.Onions, chocolate, raisins, grapes are all toxic to pets. They can cause kidney damage if they survive.