Frax Goes To College
- Lisa Vaught
- Dec 3, 2015
- 3 min read
Did You Know: Frax Went To College? Pet-assisted Therapy Class for Nursing Credit
Hello!
Seriously, Frax went to college for a semester. Frax had broken his right leg while playing with the other pups (he was all legs, still is, and he zigged when he should have zagged!) He was in a cast for six months, so he had a lot of time on his paws.
He went to visit with Dr. Pope at Auburn University, in Auburn Atlanta. Dr. Pope had an idea for a nursing course exclusively focused on the patient and therapy as well as service dogs. The idea was just in its infancy when he spoke with Jennifer Arnold CEO of Canine Assistants in Milton, GA, outside of Atlanta. Frax had to leave, and go back for therapy on his leg. Dr. Pope worked on his plan.
In November 2011, I went to Canine Assistants, for my successor Dog to my dear Jet, who had passed away from cancer in the spring of 2011. Frax had just returned from therapy on his leg, and looked wonderful. Frax went ahead and picked me from a group of people returning for their successor dogs after their first dog had passed away. It was very emotional. Most of all for me, when I was sitting on the training room floor, and Frax suddenly put both his very big paws on my lap, and looked regally around the room, at the other recipients, and their dogs. “Oh, my, one of the trainers said, “he's picked her out and wants the other dogs to know it!” I was honored. And that's how Frax dramatically picked me out of all those other recipients to be his person!
Dr. Pope was looking in on this training class, in preparation to forming a pet-assisted therapy class for credit at Auburn University....the first pet assisted therapy class ever at a school of nursing to our knowledge. It's been in existence only since 2011, three years. One year after they started, they started offering the class for credit. The next goal is to take the classroom program, called Canines Assisting Rehabilitation and Education...or CAREing Paws, and develop a program in which others in the community can train their own dogs and other dogs for potential community resource and therapy dogs.
Dr. Pope got an amazing surprise while we were at Canine Assistants that November...he recieved Choa, one of Canine Assistant's service dogs! Like all Canine Assistants dogs, Choa is trained to assist adults and children with physical disabilities or special needs. As it often happens, going through training at Canine Assistants was a life-changing experience for Dr. Pope, as it was for us when we first went through training with Jet. Oh, and Choa's strange, yet fitting name? Her name comes from Children's Hospital of Atlanta, who was the corporation sponsoring her way back when she was a pup training a service dog!
So, when we trained with Frax, we got a great experience, speaking with Dr. Pope, and learning all about the new course he was developing. Still being licensed as a nurse, I was very interested in his theories, and how he was going to set up the course. I am so honored that Bill and I were actually there to see Dr. Pope, meet him, and watch him start developing his program after speaking with Jennifer Arnold, and watching her teach!
http://www.auburn.edu/main/take5/pope.html
https://rise.auburn.edu/project/1212
http://family.auburn.edu/profiles/blogs/all-dogs-go-to-college
Later...
LV, JT & FX
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