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Garvin’s Divine Canine teams are a group of dedicated volunteers who bring joy and comfort to those who need it. We enjoy visiting a wide variety of facilities, such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, juvenile detention centers and libraries. All of our teams are graduates of the Therapy Dog Training course taught at Garvin’s Pet Plaza and Training Center and are registered Delta Pet Therapy Teams.
Sound like fun? It is! Volunteering with your dog is a great community service – but it’s also a great experience for you and your dog. You’ll build a stronger bond, learn to recognize and address stress signals, and most importantly, you’ll spend quality time sharing the love with others.
We’d love to have you join us! To find out more about our next Therapy Dog Training course, contact us today!
Testimonial
Why I participate in Pet Therapy
The Pet Partners Team Training Course offered through Delta Society was so much fun and a great learning experience for me, and my dog, Earl. Once the course was completed (and we aced the test), Earl and I are now registered as a Pet Partner Team and members of the Delta Society. Prior to taking the course, I had enrolled in an Obedience Class with Garvin’s Pet Training. Had I not participated and worked hard and diligently with Earl on his obedience skills, we would never have passed the certification process. Pet Partners have to be well trained and confident – there is a lot at stake working your dog with other people in new settings.
This registration enables us to visit hospitals, nursing homes, children’s homes, schools, libraries – almost any institution you can think of. We chose to work in a hospital setting, working in the Rehab/Occupational Therapy ward. Earl and I helped patients with balance, range of motion, endurance, mobility, coordination and memory – all performed with the aid of a Frisbee, a tennis ball and a leash. How fun is that!
On a slightly more serious note – I like to think we help to establish a sense of purpose, companionship and entertainment in the patients’ lives. Volunteering to help another person, to see them smile, to speak, to walk, to laugh is priceless. To do this with my partner Earl makes me very proud. Having a really close and deep relationship with him makes me a better person. Earl is a medium for helping others overcome their disabilities. He’s more than just a dog – he’s my Partner.
In the spring of 2008, my little yellow Labrador retriever puppy, Molly, and I went to Karyn Garvin to be trained. My husband and I are Garvin Pet Training veterans, having hired Karyn’s firm to work with us and our now deceased dogs years ago.
After the first or second session with Karyn, she commented that perhaps Molly came from a therapy line, because she was very laid back for a puppy. Right then without realizing it, Karyn had planted a seed in my mind. That summer by chance, my husband came across a magazine article about therapy dogs. We cut it out and saved it and thought “one day”.
Last year, while working in an obedience training group run by Karyn, she mentioned that Garvin’s Pet Training now had therapy dog training classes. Molly and I signed right up!
Kate Titus was our trainer and she was phenomenal. I learned so many new and different things about working with Molly - like how to tell when she’s stressed and how to “help” Molly figure out what I am asking from her. Working with Molly to become a therapy dog team has made our human-pet bond so much stronger.
Garvin’s Divine Canines provides the support of other pet therapy teams. Freda Blake was so great in helping me navigate the certification paperwork and assisting me with signing up to volunteer at Tucson Medical Center. Now, nine months of the year Molly and I visit adult patients at TMC once a week. It is an amazing volunteer experience!
We believe that without Karyn and her team’s guidance and training abilities, that our Molly, while a very well-trained pet, would have never taken the leap to become a therapy dog.
Julie Darling & Molly