Wagging their tails and ready for petting, the dogs of Red Hills Pet Therapy are helping with stress all around Thomas County, one paw at a time.

Donna Nunnally, the head organizer of Red Hills Pet Therapy, said that the program is all about getting pet owners and their pets involved in local facilities, such as schools, assisted living facilities and hospitals, like Archbold Medical Center.

“It’s just a way to provide some comfort and relief and just a diversion from what an individual, a patient or a student may be going through,” Nunnally said.

She said that the program began years ago under Lorie Garrett before she was given the reins four years ago, Nunnally adding that she was dedicated to the comfort pets brought to their surroundings after her own personal experiences.

“I can see the tremendous benefit of it, having had two parents go through hospice, you know, hospice was there with them and they were dealing with terminal illnesses,” she said. “And they each had dogs, and I saw how important and what it meant for them to have their dogs nearby…I wanted to be able to provide that the best I could to some people locally who were maybe dealing with struggles or in a situation where they couldn’t have their own pet.”

Robin Cook, a nurse at Scott’s Elementary School, said that her own dog, Ponder, loves getting know the teachers and students.

“He loves coming to work,” she said. “He can come in and just work his magic. He is, I’ll never have another dog like this.”

Red Hills Pet Therapy regularly visits places like Archbold Medical Center and Thomas University, along with other schools in the area.

Nunnally said that they are currently preparing for the Tail Waggin’ Tutors program.

“We’ll actually take the therapy dogs into the schools and help and assist students with building their confidence and reading skills,” she said. “So students that might struggle with reading can come and sit with the dog and read to the dog, and they tend to be a little more relaxed in that environment as opposed to being in front of their peers.”

Of course, she said, more could always be done with more members.

“We could certainly do more if we had more handlers,” Nunnally said, with the program currently consisting of six to eight pet owners at the moment.

With certification through Therapy Dog International that allows the individual dogs to visit these facilities, she said that they are always open to new members, with TDI having a list of test requirements provided at https://www.tdi-dog.org/Default.aspx.

“It’s a much different level of training than is what is required for a service dog,” Nunnally said.

Therapy dogs needs to be comfortable in a variety of settings, large groups of people coming up to them, and generally approachable. A stark difference to the higher requirements of a service dog and the training they require to aid in assisted living.

For more information, interested pet owners can visit Red Hills Pet Therapy Facebook and Instagram pages.