By Jonelle Klein (Article courtesy of The Faces of Sedona and the Verde Valley)
Today, I’d like to introduce two incredible women, Jan and Pat, and share the organizations they’ve established here in the Verde Valley.
Q: Pat, let’s start with you. Tell us about your organization called “Paws for a Cause”.
A: Verde Valley Paws for a Cause is a pet therapy organization where we send out trained teams and their dogs to facilities and schools in the community to share some dog love. We service facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living, and any location that calls us for our service.
Q: What does training look like for the dogs in your organization?
Pat: Jan does the training.
Jan: I first do an initial evaluation of the dogs enrolling to determine their potential to become qualified therapy dogs. This is an important step as the dogs will be public-facing and we want to make sure that we prepare them for their therapeutic duties. Then, each dog goes through a six-week class which includes basic obedience training, modified behavioral training, such as teaching them to not pick up a medicine bottle if it falls to the ground, and finally, the last two classes are trial periods where I take the dogs out to a facility, where they are observed to gage their preparedness. If the dogs do well and pass, then they become certified as a team with their owners to begin volunteering.
Q: Great. And do you organize the teams as well?
Pat: Jan does that as well, I am just the administrator behind the scenes.
Q: And Pat, do you also have a therapy dog?
(Laughing)
Pat: No.
Jan: I think Pat is a great example of having a dog but not forcing the dog to do something it’s uncomfortable with. We took her dog through our course and she did ok, but she just didn’t take to it, and we discovered that she became nervous and unhappy. It’s not for every dog.
Q: Got it. So tell us, how did you get involved with dogs?
Pat: Oh gosh, that goes back to my youth. I’ve always had a dog. I first began doing therapy with dogs through an organization in Kentucky. I was on a crisis-response team and we traveled all over the country following the aftermath of devastating events in the nation. While these were heartbreaking circumstances to witness, I was amazed at how my dog at the time would actually pick out people to pet him when we arrived on the scene.
When I moved out here, I realized that there are several organizations, however during Covid, none of them were serving our area and they left the Valley. That’s when Jan and I decided to create our own. We went through organizing our non-profit status and figuring out what we needed to do to be established here in the Verde Valley. The demand was very high off the bat: from libraries and schools, everyone was asking for us. I am very passionate about this work and I know that dogs bring a lot of stress relief to people. Studies show that cortisol levels drop when petting a dog, as an example.
Q: Ok, where can we find you and Paws for a Cause, especially if someone wants to join?
Pat: Our email address is vvpfac4468@gmail.com. Or, you can go to our website: verdevalleyagilityclub.com and click the tap titled “Therapy Dog Program”.
Q: Great. Now let’s go to you, Jan. Tell us about the Chase Project.
Jan: Chase was a therapy dog, he did the reading program at the elementary school with kids who had trouble reading, and most recently, he was at the hospital. He loved the hospital and was very famous, especially in the PT room. When Covid hit, and we experienced the shutdowns, the hospital requested a picture of Chase to be put in their PT room.
One day, I was browsing online for a stuffed animal Sheltie dog, and I had an idea to order a batch of them, and distribute them to all of the places we used to visit prior to the shutdown. I began with a small number, and donated to nursing homes, the hospital, and some local doctor offices in the area. That’s how we got started. We began raising more money through service organizations such as the Rotary Club of Sedona, Kiwanis, and have grown from there. I love when people come up and tell me that they saw a “Chase Jr.” during their day. Our latest contribution has been donating to the kids in foster care. Pat, can you share more about that?
Pat: I am a court-appointed special advocate for kids that have been removed from their homes and are in foster care, so I am appointed to go around and advocate for them.
There is so much trauma when a child is removed from their home; they don’t understand what is happening most of the time. That’s what prompted me to ask Jan about spreading Chase Jr.’s to these kids as well. After getting approval and support from supervisors of these facilities, we’ve added this lane to our donation efforts for the Chase Project as well. These are tough positions to be in for the kids and faculty; we are in the process of raising funds to get a few more Chase Jr’s. to these facilities.
Q: Wow, that is very touching. Jan, tell us more about your dog, Chase.
Jan: Chase was a phenomenal dog. He was the pick of the litter, and was with the breeder for almost a year. When I lost my other Sheltie prior, I got online to see what was available, and saw a gorgeous picture of Chase. I called immediately, and then drove to Palm Springs to pick him up. He had no training whatsoever. He picked up all the tricks immediately. He had a mind of his own, and he was very humorous.
I used him a lot in demos and he loved it. He was a great agility dog. He did agility, he did obedience, and in his later years I got him into scent work. He was really my heart dog. He was my seventh Sheltie. There was something very special about him, and that’s why this Chase Project is very near and dear to my heart. I love helping the Verde Valley and giving them something positive; I know that he would too. That was his nature.
Q: Well, he certainly lives on. Jan, how did you fall in love with dogs?
Jan: Like Pat, our family had dogs growing up. My first dog just walked up to the house, this was eons ago of course, and I’m sure it was part Sheltie. Our neighbors had Shelties too. They chased the cars that went by, but never left the sidewalk. There was always something about them, like Lassie. My first dog was actually a Poodle, but once I experienced having a Sheltie, that was it.
Q: Alright, is there anything I haven’t asked you, that you would like someone to know? Pat: I’m good.
Jan: I’m good too.
Q: So in order to donate to the Chase Project, where does someone go to get the info?
Jan: They would have to send me an email, which is: jtomlinsonx@mac.com
