Do any of you have a p.a.t. dog? I met my first one yesterday,a huge,as in HUGE,gsd called Max. He and his owner were visiting the hospital that I was working at.He ( the owner not Max ) says they are really short of dogs registering with the charity and are always on the lookout for suitable candidates.

I have seriously considered doing this type of work with Spice,but we have to wait until she is 9months old before we can start the process off.

If you are a p.a.t. owner what sort of places do you visit in your area? I quite fancy old peoples daycentres or working with younger kids.
Max has even helped young children get over their fears,after being savaged by dogs and helped them to regain their trust in animals again.

To be honest if anyone who had been attacked by a dog,for whatever reason,could end up on the floor playing with Max then they have certainly got over most if not all of their problems,as I said he is HUGE,I've never seen a gsd the size of him in my life,but what a beautiful nature he has,a real credit to the breed and good training no doubt :)

Jacqueline

    Sal is a staffie 17 months old and a PAT dog...join its really good I know some people have bad experiences but mine has been nothing but positive.
     We visit a John Taylor hopice once a month and will be visiting a school for children with autistic & behavioural problems monthly from Sept this year, I have been to the school already but it's my nephew's school and it is only small so as soon as he saw Sal all his work stopped and he just sat hugging her :) nothing would tempt him away. So I am waiting until Sept because he will have moved from I & J to senior school then ;) 
     I found the placements myself but I think PAT main office have a list of places wating for dogs!!!!! as you were told there is a shortage. If you speak to their head office they are really nice and helpful and will send you deatils of the local co-ordinator who will do their best to help you.
     I would say go for it brilliant fun...and rewarding.....Karen 

I have a Groenendael bitch (Lily) who comes to work with me every Friday to do her PAT dog work - I work in a school for children with severe and profound learning difficulties and a great deal of their curriculum has to be sensory based. PAT dogs ( and other animals ) are a big success and we definately need more !.

You dog will need to be bombproof around all situations - very calm and patient, I think they need to be fully mature mentally before they can do this work and I would have said that 9 months was too young.

It is immensly rewarding work and I am very proud of Lily as she has proved such a wonderful ambassador for her breed.

http://www.petsastherapy.org/

I have a PAT dog, she is a longhaired Weimaraner and she can be seen on the PAT web page under the NEWS section. 

I make fortnightly visits to my chosen establishment, you can specificy what type of people you would feel most comfortable with although, depending on your geographical location, obviously some areas have more options than others.

It is a way of demonstrating that dogs can be very therapeutic and useful in the community.

Good Luck

Back last month I had my 7 year old rescue staffy male assessed and am just waiting to here back from them to see if he has been accepted.  Before he was assessed they asked me what establishments I wanted to visit.

I can't wait to see if he has been successful as apparently they do not have any staffy's in the area as PAT dogs so if he is accepted we will be very, very happy. 

Jaqueline,

I have a black lab, Isla who has been a PAT dog for the last year or so.  She's a bit of a Jeckyl and Hyde character, a high drive dog when training, but as soon as she gets her PAT 'uniform' on, she's a placid as anything.  The first few times she did this, I was quite worried, I thought that there was something wrong with her, but I should have known better, she was adapting her behaviour to suit the environment she visited.  I visit our local Hospice, usually every week, and we both find it very rewarding.  Lots of patients who are scared of dogs love her, and I hope that she has given a few minutes peace to people who may only have a short time to live. 
When she was assessed, I asked about what type of place to take her too, my assessor was very honest.  She said that most people want to visit ill children, but quite a few dogs would be better suited to visiting other people.  Childrens wards are very busy, bustling places, and some dogs, even PAT dogs could be stressed out by this, they would rather 'build' relationships with people who would really welcome a visit such as at an OAP home or a residential home.
This is not to say that visiting children is not a brilliant idea, but its all 'horses for courses', I know that my dog is happier with older people on more of a one-to-one basis- for her, children belong 'at home'.
Also, some experienced PAT visitors and their dogs are now visiting mental health facilities, this is not a placement for a novice dog or person, but again a very worthy thing to do.
I've thoroughly enjoyed my experiences at the Hospice, its a placement that a lot of people might not like, you are constantly reminded just how precious life is, and if Isla has cheered up just one person, be it a patient or one of the nurses in a visit, then its very worthwhile.
I think its such an important thing, that I'm hoping to take part in the assessors training later in the year, so that I can be an assessor myself.
Cheers Ali :)

Hello everyone
This is something that I am also very interested in doing and I think Ella would be very good at (when she calms down a little).  She is a very kind dog and very used to my 94 year old gran (who calls her Rose :) ) and to children of all ages.  One of the only things that has put me off is myself I'm afraid, I do lack confidence which at my age I feel is rather a lame excuse.  I am sure all visits are different but I wonder if one of you who already has a PAT dog could just give me an idea of what might happen during a typical visit.  You all seem to thoroughly enjoy it and I really think it's a wonderful thing to be part of.
Best wishes and thanks
Alex

My friends staffie has just passed to become a P.A.T
dog
I think this is an excellent hobby, good for the people the dogs visit and good for our breed.

I have just received some excellent news,from the new Executive Director at the charity where I work,I had been discussing the plan to get Spice registered in a few months time with P.A.T and she has sent me an email saying what a good idea it is,after she had done a bit of her own research on the P.A.T website ;)

Not only is she going to permit me to take Spice to work with me (we have never been allowed to take dogs into the workplace before!) but she is putting it into the new 'Volunteer Policy Pack' that staff who register their dogs successfully with P.A.T and assist this charity in their own time,will be permitted to bring that dog into work!

I also got a 'pat' on the back (no payrise tho' :D) for discussing the idea with her,so hopefully not one but two charities will benefit from this :)
Jacqueline.

I'm a schoolteacher and I have a school dog that is part of our special needs unit, he was bought by raising sponsorship and all his food has been sponsored as well, he is a lovely little character and the kids adore him. You may have seen me on the news with him, he attracted massive attention.