Therapy dog evaluations held at CL City Hall

BY Kellie Welty

Pilar Kuhn praises Misty for a job well done. Photo by Kellie Welty

Pet Partners, an International non-profit organization that registers animals and their owners to become Therapy Teams, held its first Team Evaluation at Canyon Lake City Hall in December. The evaluations were presided over by the husband and wife team of Tedd Rosenfeld and Shellie Yaseen, residents of Canyon Lake. Tedd is an international program educator-team evaluator and Shellie is a Pet Partners handler-instructor. Both have traveled to national and international cities to evaluate handlers and dogs to become registered Pet Partners and certify new team evaluators to help grow the organization.

The process to become a registered team requires two steps. The prospective handler can either attend a Handler Workshop or take the required course online. The Handler Workshop is recommended as it is very interactive. The workshop is an informal class for prospective human handlers that instructs how to work with their animal in a hospital, school, or public setting. Topics include proper ways to navigate volunteering situations with your animal, HIPPA rules and other visitation rules. The word “animal” is used because more than dogs can be “Pet Partners”, but most hospitals accept dogs only. Other animals include cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, llamas, alpacas, domesticated birds and rats.

The second step is the team evaluation. After the handler has successfully completed the Handler Workshop or online course, they can sign up with their animal for evaluation, such as the one held at City Hall.

Tedd and Shellie, along with Team Evaluator Karen Ni and a team of assistants, evaluated prospective human handler and dog teams to assess their skills and aptitude to become a Registered Pet Partners Therapy Team. Skills include the dog’s obedience and ability to work with the handler. The aptitude gauges the ability of the handler to manage the situations that may be encountered during a visit.

Assisting with the day was Canyon Lake’s Sparrow Greene, secretary for the Canyon Lake Emergency Preparedness Committee and a fellow dog lover.

Shellie and Tedd have been Pet Partners members for 18 years. Weekenders in Canyon Lake originally, they helped to establish dog visitation programs at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, as well as volunteering in many schools for children with special needs. Now full-time Canyon Lake residents, they volunteer at Temecula Valley Hospital and Loma Linda Medical Center. Shellie and Tedd also devote time for regular visits to the students at Scripps College in Claremont.

New opportunities for visits with “Therapy Animals” are increasing as the benefits of the human-animal bond interaction become a greater part of the healing and learning process. Volunteering with your dog is very rewarding and there are so many medical facilities, libraries, schools and other venues that are looking for teams. Tedd and Shellie plan to schedule more workshops and team evaluations in the near future. For more information, call 951-309-3092. To learn more about Pet Partners, visit petpartners.org.