July 2008 Visits

Visit on 26 July 2008 - Bishan Home for the Intellectually Disabled (BHID)

Hi Fellow Volunteers,

My apology for this belated report as I have overlooked it. Our PAT session was held at the renovated auditorium .. cool and spacious for our PAT activities. A big thank you to the management of BHID. We really appreciate it. We plan to implement the therapy activities for the month of August visit. Incidentally, Mediacorp Channel U will do the filming about pet therapy activities on that month ... mark your calender - 30th August 2008. I will let you know the details in due course.

My heartfelt thanks to the wonderful PAT team (18 volunteers and 2 young volunteers and 14 dogs) who brought cheers and comfort to the residents.

1. Ann & Esther Wee with Vickie / Maltese
2. Lok Tin Chan & Hubby with Bobby / Shih Tzu
3. Hilda Lim & Gregory with Pepper / Mini Schnauzer
4. Evangeline Koh and nephew Sebestian & Harrison with Pepper & Perdi / Shetland Sheepdog
5. Francis & Evelyn Yip with Cash / Corgi
6. Elaine Lui & mum Soo Fen with Polar / Samoyed
7. Jelyn Kho with Fluffy / Shih Tzu
8. Patricia Koh with Brutus / English Bulldog
9. Beatrice Wong with Skippy / Silky Terrier
10. Rebecca Kwan with Cocoa / Maltese
11. Doris Boo with Bambi / Silky Terrier
12. Mabel Ho with Silky / Golden Retriever
13. Charlie Ho with Stallion / GSD

We welcome first timer, Jelyn Kho and her partner Fluffy, to BHID. They are seasoned PAT volunteers who interacted very well with the residents. I look forward to seeing them again and again in BHID and other homes.

Memory game is one of our popular therapy activities that stimulates the ID residents' memory skills. They enjoyed playing the game and were rewarded with a little snacks when they did it right. Thanks to Soo Fen.

Cash (Evelyn Yip) and Pepper (Hilda Lim) did an impromptu dog race. The best reward for the dog who won the race was the smiling, laughing and clapping from the residents!

Our achievements for the day were:
Cognitive / Communication / Socialisation Therapy
- encourage residents to call and remember the names of the dogs.
- memory card play to develop mental abilities
- stimulate conversation

Motor / Physical / Sensory Therapy
- walking exercise with therapy dogs
- encourage residents to stroke and touch the dogs

Please look out for our announcements of our special August visit and check out our next visit updates at www.tdspore.org.

Warmest regards
Charlie Ho

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Visit on 25 July 2008- MINDSville

Hello fellow volunteers,

Another encouraging report from the MINDSville. Yep, it's the end of July and the Friday troopers had spent a wonderful afternoon at MINDSville @ Napiri. This is the second week of us trying to implement a more structured pet-assisted therapy program at this facility and I am pleased to tell you all that we have ironed out some hitches from the last visit - still not perfect, but we are getting there and I remain optimistic. Jessie, the program coordinator at MINDSville, and I had a chat after the session and she is giving me the most heartening reports noted by the therapists at the home and the rest of the staff. The residents have certainly warmed up to us and look forward to our visits. I am pleased to see that just with us and our beloved pooches, we are able to motivate the residents to strive to try harder than what they would normally do in another therapy session with a different methodology.

This week, we continued to have our 30 minutes of structured activities based on walking exercises for gross and fine motor control, retrieving exercises for arm and grip strengthening, and brushing for life-skills training. We also worked on trying to get some patients to verbalise and create a 'coherent' conversation with them (quite a feat at this home as most residents are non-verbal!). For our social activity this month, we attempted the dress-up game with a dog-walk at the end - I think the staff and many of the residents enjoyed themselves very much and had a bit of a laugh. It was great to see some residents dancing spontaneously when the music was blaring out from the 'boombox' - I wish I have no inhibitions like them on the 'dancefloor'! I must say Diva and Magic won the best-dressed pooches in my eyes! We are going to do another dog-walk fiasco next month showcasing the upcoming A/W2008 collection by residents of MINDSville on August 22, so come join us! The new collection would be mainly designed by the cooperative efforts of the residents in wheelchairs and the more mobile residents as a group effort (as opposed to the staff did most of the dressing today - oops!) - more details to come.

Acknowledgments to the upcoming models (human and dogs) from Friday Troopers - Vogue and every fashion mag in the world, watch out! (Or should we say 'Dogue'?)

1. Alicia Chue with Diva / Labrador Retriever and Magic / Labrador Retriever
2. Constance Ong with Xi'An Labradoodle
3. Charlie Ho with Stallion / GSD and Silky / Golden Retriever
4. Vincent Ho with Gigi / Beagle
5. Melinda Ann Michael and son with Chewbacca / Catalan Sheepdog and Cleo / Miniature Dachshund
6. Judy Blyth and friend's daughter Scarlett with Cara / Miniature Schnauzer
7. Chenny Tan and Friend - Helping Hands
8. Marjorie Ting - Helping hand
9. Louiza Chan with Grace-Pie / Spoodle

Welcome 'home' Judy - am glad you had a wonderful time back home and that you've splurged on Cara with that pink diamante collar! Grace is so jealous! :)

Our next weekday visit will be to AWWA on August 1, 2008. For more information on this coming or other visits, please check out our website www.tdspore.org

Please also be reminded that we have a social gathering for all volunteers to the Botanical Gardens on Saturday August 2, 2008. Should you require more information, please drop me an email.

Till next time, stay merry :D

Louiza, Grace-Pie and Beatrice-Bear (who was most upset that she had to sit out today...)

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Visit on 20 July 2008- Ward 66A Institute of Mental Health (IMH)

Hi TDS-PAT volunteers

We had a wonderful visit to IMH Ward 66A last Sunday, with many of the patients greeting us warmly and asking why we didn't visit last month. They were truly pleased to see our regular human as well as canine volunteers, who have by now become familiar faces. I was very surprised, but the patients could easily tell who among us were first timers and who hadn't visited in a while. And I had to answer questions such as "Why no Nasi Lemak / Fried Bee Hoon today?"!

We brought some patients down for a stroll around the beautiful premises with Freo, McMug, Sunny and Silky. With more residents than dogs available, some of them had to share dogs! Proves our dogs have a big fan club at Ward 66A :) It was a good time of chatting among patients and dog handlers, as they and the dogs had a good stretch of their muscles along the walkways.

Those who stayed behind at the ward had Stallion and Polar for company, and played the memory game. It was interesting to note that some of them did very well at the game, especially as they were rewarded with little treats.

We missed some of our regular volunteers who were busy with work or couldn't make it for one reason or another -- remember, the patients missed you and hope to see you next time! We were also glad to have Lindsay and Greg Lanham as observers -- they will be bringing their dogs for temperament assessment this weekend, and we hope to see them in action soon.

Many thanks to the following who made time for the patients:

1. Charlie Ho with Stallion/German Shepherd
2. Mabel Ho with Silky/Golden Retriever
3. Tricia Tan with Freo/Silky Terrier
4. Pauline Tan and son Brian with Sunny/Golden Retriever
5. Shum Chin Yang with McMug/JRT
6. Teng Soo Fen with Polar/Samoyed

Cognitive / Communication / Socialisation Therapy
- encourage patients to remember the names of the dogs, talk about themselves and the past week
- provide stimulation, conversation and companionship

Motor / Physical / Sensory Therapy and mental exercise
- encourage physical therapy exercise by walking with the dogs and throwing dumbbell
- helping the patients to exercise their memories through the memory game

As Charlie and I commented, some of these patients have indeed come a long way since we started our visits 4 years ago. We are just glad to be able to contribute to their wellbeing, and look forward to more visits in the coming months.

Look out for our announcements of upcoming visits, and we hope to see many more volunteers join us in bringing cheer to the less privileged.

Cheers
Soo Fen

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Visit on 18 July 2008- Sunshine Welfare Action Mission Home (SWAMI) 

Howdy to all TDS volunteers,

Another report from moi - the Friday Troopers paid a visit to SWAMI home this week and were met with great smiles as usual from the staff and patients alike. This week, we welcomed Rex as the coordinator for the TDS visits as SWAMI - he had big shoes to fill after Merci's fantastic job, but boy, am I happy to say that he can be awarded a gold medal for the enthusiasm and effort that he puts in! Thanks Rex :)! And also thanks to the rest of the staff at SWAMI who never fail to assist us, especially Pamela, who is oh-so-keen to learn about the program and to help out.

Our Friday Troopers worked magic once again with the patients on the 3rd floor dementia ward whilst listening to Chinese children karaoke songs. Amidst some raging hormones and lots of healthy veggies and fruits as treats, our doggy volunteers and their handlers improved the balance and mobility of the patients through walking exercises. They also tested the patients' fine and gross motor skills by patting and throwing dumbbells. However, I think most important of all, is that we brought lots of smiles and laughter to everyone. It is always lovely to work with patients that are eagerly waiting for our visits, and can't wait to start participating in the therapeutic exercises - definitely not much warming up time needed at this home!

A special thanks to the visitors that came along to help. This week, we were graced with the presence of Marjorie's mom (Marjorie, you must have been raving about our good work at home! :P) and Alicia's friend's daughter Jackie (I hope I got her name right - my apologies if I didn't, I have memory of a goldfish and really should have written it down) who came back to Singapore for school holidays and got 'dragged out' by this 'auntie' of hers (I feel you're too young to be an auntie, Alicia, though I'm not admitting I qualified to be one too a fair while back).

A drum roll please for my brilliant volunteers...

1. Alicia Chue and friend Jackie with Diva / Labrador Retriever and MAGIC the handsome boy / Labrador Retriever
2. Francis and Evelyn Yip with Cash / Corgi
3. Constance Ong and hubby with Xian Labradoodle
4. Charlie Ho with Stallion / GSD and Silky / Golden Retriever
5. Marjorie Ting and mom - Helping hands
6. Louiza Chan with Grace-Pie / Spoodle and Beatrice-Bear / Spoodle

For my regular Friday troopers that weren't there, especially those who are overseas - just a note to let you guys know - WE MISS YOU and please come back soon!

The next Friday visit will be to MINDSville - please check our TDS website for further details.

Till next week!

Louiza, Grace and Beatrice

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Visit on 12 July 2008- Bethany Methodist Nursing Home (BMND)

Hi PAT Volunteers,

It's me again!

On Saturday 12th July the BMNH Multi-Purpose Hall was at first a quiet hall at 2.45pm and as our TDS session started, it progressively came to life with vibrancy, lots of noise, laughter, barks and conversations. It was an ultra fantastic turnout of BMNH residents as well as our PAT Helping Hands and Healing Paws and we ended up having literally a full house.

My heartiest thanks to our volunteers and hardworking poochies today;

1. Charlie Ho with Stallion (German Shepherd) and Mabel Ng with Silky (Golden Retriever)
2. Elaine Lui and Mum Soo Fen with Polar (Samoyed)
3. Patricia Koh with Brutus (English Bulldog)
4 Pearly Cheong with Gabriel (Rough Collie)
5. Joshua with Samuel (Burnese Mountain Dog) and Grace (Border Collie)
6. Jaclyn Lim with Starkey (Shih Tzu)
7. Helga with Hilde (Labrador Cross) and Helga’s friend Sharon
8. Jelyn Kho with Fluffy (Shih Tzu)
9. Mrs Lok Tin Chan and Husband with Bobby
10. Ann and Esther with Vickie (Maltese)
11. Rebecca Kwan with Cocoa (Maltese)
12. Lilian Quek and friend Daisy Sze Min – Helping Hands.
(Lilian came as an observer in preparation for her dog Hollix (Mini Pincher + Shih Tzu) whom we hope will join us next month after the temperament test and health checks)
13. Noelle and Elaine – Helping Hands and friends of Pearly. We hope these two ladies will continue to join us as regulars. (Am sure Pearly has ways to make this happen!)

It was good to see long time volunteers who had been missing in action for some time join us again as well as our new recruits Jelyn Kho with Fluffy and Helga with Hilde. We had Vickie join us again earlier than expected as she seemed well enough to "start work" again. So that was great!

Thanks to Sian Yee and Sigi for their unsurpassed support and assistance rendered each time. We learned that the residents had been eargerly waiting for our visit and had been asking about it as early as the start of that week. It’s great to see that with the support from Sian Yee and Sigi’s as well as BMNH management that we have been able to make an impact on the lives of the residents through our monthly visits.

Give yourselves a big pat on your back and a big smooch for each of your poochies for the job well done!

Achievments for the afternoon included -

Cognitive / Communication / Socialisation Therapy
- encourage the residents to remember the names of the dogs and owners and to talk about themselves and how they were feeling.
- provide stimulation, conversation and companionship.
- helps to bring back memories of their past and for some they open up to share they had owned dogs before or worked with families who had dogs.

Motor / Physical / Sensory Therapy
- encourage therapy exercise patting the dogs.
- encourage arm and hand movements by getting the residents to feed the dogs treats. (This task never fails to satisfy the dogs who are addicted to their treats! Talk about being rewarded and showered with love…who’d want to miss such a gesture!)

Despite it being a warm afternoon, everyone was in *happy spirits*.

Hope our new and regular volunteers as well as observers enjoyed the visit and will continue to support TDS and make time for BMNH and the many homes we visit each month.

Please do visit our website at www.tdspore.org for the latest updates on upcoming visits.

Hear from you soon!

Take Care,
Rebecca & little Cocoa

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Visit on 11 July 2008- Thong Teck Home for Senior Citizens (TTHSC)

Hi Fellow Volunteers,

A rather small team but a cosy affair where experienced volunteers and equally seasoned therapy dogs spent wonderful and quality time with the residents. As usual the residents seated patiently awaiting the arrival of their favourite dogs. Many of the wheelchair bound residents welcomed us with open arms and toothless smile. I hope our visit brightens their days. My heartfelt thanks to the following volunteers and their 4-legged buddies for their valuable time

Melinda & son Shane with Chewy / Catalan Sheepdog & Cleo / long Haired Daschund
Alicia Chue with Magic / Labrador Retriever
Celestine Lim with Duchess / Golden Retriever
Louiza Chan with Grace / Spoodle
Charlie Ho with Silky Golden Retriever & Stallion / GSD
Chenny Tan - Helping hand
Marjorie Ting - Helping hand

A warm welcome to volunteer, Celestine Lim and Duchess, who came to TTHSC for the first time. I hope that they enjoyed and are inspired by the experience enough to return for more visit not only to TTHSC but also to other TDS's adopted homes.

I would like to report that I upgraded myself from a PAT volunteer into a "canine dentist" for a couple of minutes. Stallion, as you know , is very crazy playing with ball. A small rubber ball was stuck onto his canine tooth. He could not let the ball out from his mouth even I gave a strong command "OUT". I had to remove it just like a dentist extracting a tooth ... well he is a good boy ..making a bit of a noise because of discomfort when I pulled the ball out from his canine tooth

Our achievements were:
Cognitive/Communication /Socialisation Therapy:
-- encouraging the residents to talk about their good old happy days. Through conversation, elderly residents maintain mental agility
-- testing some of the residents' memory skills by asking them to recall the name of our therapy dogs.

Motor/Physical/Sensory Therapy:
-- encouraging the residents to throw dumbbell, ball, for our dogs to retrieve - this is a form of physiotherapy
-- motivating and assisting the residents to move their hands to pat and stroke the dogs
-- getting the residents to feed treat to the dogs

Please take note that Bryan, PAT supervisor of TTHSC, and I are in the process of planning some funs and therapy activities for the residents for next month visit i.e. August 8th visit. I will let you know the details when they are finalised in due course.

Please check out our website for the details of our next visit.

Warmest regards
Charlie Ho

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Visit on 4 July 2008 - Asian Women's Welfare Association Special School for Children (AWWA)

Hi everyone

Many thanks to all the volunteers who made time for our little buddies at AWWA, today Friday 4th July. We were glad to welcome our new volunteers Margaret and Tara with Fluffy; not to mention our usual faithful volunteers who continue to turn up month after month to renew their friendship and bring cheer to the little kids. After the long break you can see that the kids were very excited to see us by their jumping and clapping, happy faces and huge smiles. Many of them still remembered some of the dogs.

Alicia was very busy today, snapping away Polaroid shots of the children with the dogs, which i think is a great idea. It will certainly help them to remember the dogs. Thank you Alicia!!!

The volunteers who made a difference in the childrens life today were-

William and Yvonne with Enormous/Nano (mini daschunds)
Alicia with Diva (Labrador Retriever)
Francis & Evelyn Yip with Cash (Corgi)
Constance Ong with Xian (Labradoodle)
Melinda and Shane with Chewy( Catalan Sheepdog) and Cleo (Long haired Daschund)
Magaret and Tara with Fluffy (Shih Tzu)
Cenny Tan-Helping Hand
Majorie Ting-Helping hand

Achievements for today are-

Cognitive / Communication / Socialisation Therapy
- encourage the children to remember the names of the dogs, talk about themselves .
- provide stimulation, conversation and companionship.

Motor / Physical / Sensory Therapy
- encourage therapy exercise by walking with the dog, throwing ball.
- helping some of the wheel chair bound children to brush the dogs .
- encouraged the children to feed the dogs by helping them to open their palms( most of these children have clenched fists)

Though it was a little bit chaotic at the beginning but in the end we all had lots of fun :-)

To our regular volunteers who missed today's session hope you feel better and see you all next Friday.


Next Friday's visit will take place at Thong Teck Home for Senior Citizen. We need YOUR support to make a difference to the patients / residents. Please check the website www.tdspore.org for details

A MILLION THANKS AND BLESSINGS TO OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS!!!

Have a great week

Melinda
 

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