Angela and Otis

FACILITY DOG TEAM: Teamed Spring 2007

Otis was placed with me as a Facility Dog to work at Polinsky Children’s Center. That is where abused and neglected children are taken when it is not safe for them to stay with their caretakers. Many of the kids are doubly distressed by the abuse and the subsequent removal from everything they have known so far in their lives. To most people the combination of kids in pain and an affectionate well-trained dog makes a lot of sense. The presence of a dog also lends some normalcy to a place and circumstance that is anything but normal. My task at PCC is to provide individual therapy to children with behavioral or emotional issues. I am a trained play therapist. Otis has worked with me for about two months now and the possibilities for his “interventions” seem endless. One encounter was with a little boy who tended to act out his distress by hitting and biting people unprovoked. Adults had repeatedly violated this little boy’s trust since he was very young. He has trouble communicating with and relating to people. He loved dogs and immediately took to Otis. Single-handedly, this wonderful dog was able to de-escalate the little boy and get him back on track. I am looking forward to finding more ways to use Otis in lessening the children’s pains.