We spoke about what Sammy and Bernie do to be kind and do good deeds. Our meeting started out by Marti sharing photos of different people - young, old, persons with disabilities, persons who are homeless, etc. and asked what their perception was when they looked at the photos.
Children commented that some of the photos were "scary" while others were "sad." Some said "funny," while others noted "ugly." We talked about how dogs might perceive these people and discussed that they really don't have the same types of visual perceptions that humans do and they are less likely to make judgements based on what someone looks like.
We also talked about what it takes to care for animals. Marti passed around a bag and asked children to pick out various items such as a leash, food, collar, brush, and even a red heart. We discussed what these items were and how we use them to care for our pets.
The children enjoyed petting Sammy and Bernie. We talked about how it made them feel to pet the dogs. They commented that it made them feel happy and relaxed. We explained that those were the same type of feelings that are expressed by the people we visit. However, we also explained that not everyone likes dogs and it is important to when we visit the individual that we give him/her a choice whether they would like to see and pet the dogs.
We concluded with a poem that Marti wrote as a tribute to therapy dogs. We'll post the poem in the next blog post.
What a wonderful time we had with these awesome children! Thank you for inviting us!
