There can be many ways to heal, psychological healing, emotional healing, and music healing...... Have you ever heard of dog healing?
This is a new way of pet healing, by training dogs to become "therapists", allowing people to interact with their pets and help people relieve psychological problems such as stress, anxiety and depression.
Cai Xue is an expert in pet behavior and training and the founder of Kunming SET Animal Healing Academy, and together with her partner Greg Bachnik, an American, she applies the concept of pet healing to Kunming's communities, nursing homes, rehabilitation schools and other scenes, entering the lives of special groups and bringing comfort to them. At the same time, they also combined with the international and domestic therapy dog assessment requirements to explore a set of assessment mechanisms suitable for Chinese therapy dogs.
So, how do dog "therapists" work? They usually work in specific settings, such as nursing homes, psychological rehabilitation facilities, or private homes. In these places, they will have intimate contact with the client, and in the process, the healed person will feel loved and cared for, so as to find emotional and psychological comfort.
In the process of promoting pet healing, Cai Xue and her team have eaten a lot of "closed-door soup". Many people do not believe in and are reluctant to try this type of healing, they are worried that the dog will bite, have hygiene problems, and be uncontrolled.
In fact, a true therapy dog needs to go through strict screening and training. Cai Xue said that gentle and mature dogs are more suitable for a calm environment, such as a community where the elderly live. Polite, attentive, and attentive dogs are great candidates for children's reading programs in the library or at school.
Cai Xue introduced that regardless of breed and body shape, whether it is a stray dog or a family companion dog, friendly personality is the key to a healing dog. The second is to be trained in socialization, obedience, desensitization, interaction ability, etc., and after passing the exam with the trainer, you can become a qualified therapy dog. Only dogs that meet these requirements can become "intern" therapy dogs, and dogs that have practiced at least five times and are in good condition and in stable condition can be "regularized" as therapy dogs and participate in their organization's volunteer service projects.
The most senior healing dog "Dumpling" in the institution, who is 7 years old this year, is also the first batch of healing dogs in Kunming and has served hundreds of people. "Another important criterion for becoming a therapy dog is that even if you have been hurt in the past, you still have trust in people, both physically and mentally. "Dumplings" once served in a nursing home, and later due to objective reasons, the nursing home ceased to operate, and "Dumplings" tossed and turned several owners, but it still chose to believe and heal others with its love. At present, there are 7 therapy dogs like it, and dozens of them have "graduated" after professional examination training.
Pet healing not only spreads the concept of civilized and scientific pet raising, but also gives full play to the social value of small animals, provides healing for special groups, and brings hope. Therefore, Cai Xue's team carries out some urban public welfare activities in Kunming from time to time to convey the power of urban love, and also let the healing dog gradually enter the public eye, so that more and more people can participate in it, let love flow, and convey the warmth of Kunming city.
Source: Queen's Daily headlines