Our Services
Animal Assisted Therapy makes use of trained animal and handler teams as an integral part of a goal-oriented treatment plan for individuals with special needs. The variety of animals used includes, but is not limited to, dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, birds and horses. Because animals are accepting and non-judgmental, they make it easier for people to feel more relaxed and more comfortable during their personal treatment sessions.
Our handler and therapy dog teams provide services to individuals with special needs, in educational, clinical and day program facilities. Aided by the gentle and unconditional love of our highly trained animals, our teams help the individuals improve physically, socially and emotionally, as well as in the areas of self-regulation and motivation. Our ultimate goal is to improve and strengthen both their skills and their character traits, giving them the added confidence they need in order to achieve their personal goals.
Improves fine motor skills
Improves focus, attention and motivation
Improves social skills
Increases self-esteem
Decreases anxiety, depression and isolation
Improves self-control
Improves balance
Increases trust, empathy and team work
School Based Program
Our unique application of the School-Based Animal-Assisted Therapy program uses an animal’s gentle and unconditional love with coordinated lesson plans to improve children’s social skills, life skills, motor skills, speech, motivation, and self-confidence. We work closely with teachers and paraeducators weekly to ensure each child has an opportunity to interact with the therapy animal individually while also working on their IEP goals.
Benefits of the School-Based Animal Therapy Program include increased self-esteem, trust, empathy, focus, motivation, self-control, and decreased anxiety, depression, and isolation.
Our school partners
Clinic-Based Program
Pawsitive Friendships currently provides our Clinic-Based Program with Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Feeding Therapy. The Clinic-Based program improves the child’s motor skills, social skills, compliance, motivation, motor planning, and speech.
Our Clinical Partners
Early Childhood Program
This program uses our goal-oriented curriculum and Therapy Animals to help pre-school children adequately prepare for kindergarten. Working with ABA centers and public and private pre-schools, the program focuses on motor skills, social skills, communication, self-regulation, working memory, focus, motivation, and taking turns experiencing our specially trained animals’ unconditional love.
Our Early Childhood Partners
Adult Program
Our Adult Program provides weekly or monthly Animal Therapy to Adult Day Programs (DTA) to adults with special needs. During an Animal Therapy visit, the Animal Therapy Team works with staff ensuring each individual has the opportunity to interact with the therapy animal in a group setting. Individuals are encouraged to engage with the animal through petting, treats, brushing, going for walks, playing fetch, and more. This program helps individuals with special needs improve motivation, participation, social skills, and motor skills while increasing self-confidence.
Adult Program Partners
If you are interested in learning more about Animal Therapy in your facility, please contact a Program Coordinator in your area.
Please note in alignment with our mission, we only serve the special needs community. We define that as individuals who have IEP/504 Plans, therapy services through DDD, or adults within a DTA facility with current PCSP.
West Valley (Surprise, Goodyear, Peoria, and Glendale)
Central (Phoenix and Scottsdale)
East Valley (Tempe, Chandler, Mesa, Gilbert, and Queen Creek)
Tucson (and surrounding cities)
Laura Ibsen Program
In February 2018, Laura Ibsen passed away due to complications from autoimmune diseases. Laura dedicated over ten years of her young life to Pet Therapy, starting in 2005 when she first visited Chandler Regional Hospital with her therapy dog, Patches. After that, she became an evaluator for Pet Partners, evaluating potential Pet Therapy teams in Arizona. She was also the Pet Therapy Team Lead at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center and the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Here, at Pawsitive Friendships, Laura, Patches and then Scooter, volunteered countless invaluable hours working one-on-one with various children on a weekly basis.
With degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education, she was ideal for us. She used every moment as a teaching moment for the benefit of the children and worked diligently and devotedly to ensure each child’s success. When one youngster was afraid of getting a haircut, Laura encouraged her to use a child’s scissors to “cut” Scooter’s hair during one of their occupational therapy sessions. Then, on her own time, she and Scooter accompanied the child’s family to the salon to help her have a haircut while she repeated that same exercise.
Laura’s compassion for and commitment to others was unparalleled, and this Pet Therapy Training Program is designed to honor her memory and her legacy. Its goal is to train and register new Pet Therapy teams whose human handlers have hearts as warm and loving as hers. Once registered, these teams will volunteer with Pawsitive Friendships for a two-year term.
Applications for the Laura Ibsen Pet Therapy Training program will be accepted on a per diem basis, and before applying, all interested candidates are urged to review the requirements listed below.
Animal Requirements:
- Must be one year old at time of evaluation
- Must have lived with owner for at least 6 months
- Must be current with vaccines
- Must have no history of aggression
- Must demonstrate basic obedience skills
Handler Requirements:
- Must be 18 years or older.
- Must “read” their animal’s body language and recognize when their animal is stressed, anxious, concerned, over stimulated or fatigued.
- Must interact positively with their animal by praising, cueing, encouraging and reassuring their animal as needed.
- Must cue or redirect their animal without raising their voice, forcefully jerking on the leash or offering their animal food or toys.
- Must be able to engage in casual conversation with those they meet on their visits while still being attentive to their animal.
- Must guide the interactions of others with their animal in a polite and professional manner during therapy sessions.
- Must be mindful of and “advocate for” the safety and wellbeing of their animal at all times during therapy sessions.
- Must attend weekly pet therapy training classes for 6 to 10 weeks in addition to completing assigned team “homework.”
- Must attend an animal handler course through Pet Partners. Achieving a Certificate of Completion to become a registered animal therapy team.
- Must attend Pawsitive Friendships training/orientation.
- Must undergo and pass a fingerprint check and have no criminal background.
- Must be available for one therapy session a week at a school or clinic associated with Pawsitive Friendships for the term of their Pet Partners registration (two years).
- Must demonstrate professionalism, compassion for individuals with special needs, and respect for their privacy in compliance with HIPAA.
If you are interested in submitting an application or learning more about the program, please contact Tosha at tosha@pawsitivefriendships.org
Animal Requirements:
- Must be one year old at time of evaluation
- Must have lived with owner for at least 6 months
- Must be current with vaccines
- Must have no history of aggression
- Must demonstrate basic obedience skills
Handler Requirements:
- Must be 18 years or older.
- Must “read” their animal’s body language and recognize when their animal is stressed, anxious, concerned, over stimulated or fatigued.
- Must interact positively with their animal by praising, cueing, encouraging and reassuring their animal as needed.
- Must cue or redirect their animal without raising their voice, forcefully jerking on the leash or offering their animal food or toys.
- Must be able to engage in casual conversation with those they meet on their visits while still being attentive to their animal.
- Must guide the interactions of others with their animal in a polite and professional manner during therapy sessions.
- Must be mindful of and “advocate for” the safety and wellbeing of their animal at all times during therapy sessions.
- Must attend weekly pet therapy training classes for 6 to 10 weeks in addition to completing assigned team “homework.”
- Must attend an animal handler course through Pet Partners. Achieving a Certificate of Completion to become a registered animal therapy team.
- Must attend Pawsitive Friendships training/orientation.
- Must undergo and pass a fingerprint check and have no criminal background.
- Must be available for one therapy session a week at a school or clinic associated with Pawsitive Friendships for the term of their Pet Partners registration (two years).
- Must demonstrate professionalism, compassion for individuals with special needs, and respect for their privacy in compliance with HIPAA.
If you are interested in submitting an application or learning more about the program, please contact Tosha at tosha@pawsitivefriendships.org