Registered therapy dogs refute breed's stereotypes

Recently, we have heard on the news that pit bulls have been attacking and biting humans left and right—to the point that many communities are considering breed-specific bans on pit bulls.  The truth is, pitbulls are no more vicious than golden retrievers, beagles or other popular dogs!

There was an article posted by an out of state agency that is using this very point for the best!  Pit Bulls have now been trained as therapy dogs.  These therapy dogs are loving, loyal and great with kids. But when people see them, they're often afraid. Chris Hughes started "Thera-Pits" when his pit bull, Gremlin, became a registered therapy dog.  We started working with schools, reading programs and then Gremlin became the first pit bull accepted into University Hospital's Pet Pals program." Since then, many more dogs have been accepted into Thera-Pits, and the organization has supporters from as far away as Australia and South Africa, (LIFE + DOG / ISSUE-12 2012).

Courtesy of WEWS-Clevland

As a Social Worker, I can appreciate the powerful effect that animals have on people.  Animal assisted psychotherapy is an emerging therapeutic intervention where animals are used as tools for clients to learn, grow, and heal. The emotional healing that occurs within the human-animal bond enriches many aspects of a child’s life. What unfolds is truly amazing!

Some benefits of animal assisted psychotherapy are improved confidence, self-efficacy, strengthened communication skills, trust building, anxiety reduction, impulse control, imporoved social skills and boundaries.

Please see this entire article and tell me what YOUR thoughts are!

You can learn more about Thera-Pits and animal rescue group Rowdy to the Rescue here: http://www.thera-pits.com/  

And here:  http://www.rowdytotherescue.com