Therapy Dog Thailand – Therapy Dogs of Thailand Because dogs are animals that have unconditional love, there is a lot of research that uses trained dogs to help treat and heal patients, special children, or to help the visually and hearing impaired.
When talking about doing business, in general, the main goal may be to seek income and profit. But there is another type of business that calls itself a Social Enterprise, whose business goals are not just to seek income and profit, but also to solve social problems.
A social enterprise is a company, partnership, or other legal entity established under the laws of Thailand that operates a business related to the production, distribution of goods or services with a social purpose as the main goal of the business. Today we will get to know our first social enterprise, Allfine Social Enterprise Co., Ltd. , and the story of a therapy dog through an interview with Ms. O Siriwan Osatharakul, founder and CEO.
Allfine Social Enterprise Co., Ltd.
It is the company that initiated the course “Therapy Dog Thailand” or “Therapy Dog Thailand” to train dog owners and potential dogs to become “therapy dogs” that meet world-class standards for the first time in Thailand. It has received cooperation from Therapy Dog Association Switzerland VTHS to use the course as a guideline for creating a course that is appropriate and meets the current needs of Thai society.
“Manage expectations before entering the program”
You Oh said that All Fine has been doing this since 2020, right when COVID-19 was coming. Fortunately, the students who are dog owners are not afraid of the spread of the disease, so everyone is ready to cooperate. Our services are divided into training and therapy. Before starting the training, we will call to talk with the applicants to ensure mutual understanding. Because everyone who applies to study, they come with expectations. Some people apply to leave their dogs here, which is not right.
“Experiences that create awareness leading to initiatives”
Khun Oh said that the reason for starting the story of therapy dogs was because it came from Khun Oh’s direct experience. It started when Khun Oh’s grandmother suffered from dementia. When she first got sick, she had to receive therapy, but her grandmother refused to cooperate because therapy required the use of child development equipment to stimulate the brain. However, her grandmother felt that he was already grown up, so why did he still have to play like a child? So she refused to cooperate with any therapy at all.
“Every patient is fragile and has walls in their hearts.”
Dementia causes moods to be unstable and change all the time. Therefore, it must be closely monitored and treated as soon as possible. Because if dementia is not treated promptly, it will never recover to normal again. In fact, whether it is the elderly, middle-aged or children, they all have sensitivity, emotional fragility and mental walls. This is what makes treatment from doctors unable to overcome the mental walls of some patients.
“Look back at the patient and ask why the patient is unhappy?”
Mr. Oh, who had been taking care of Grandma closely, began to notice that Grandma was unhappy, emotional, and resisted treatment from the doctor. As a result, medication was ineffective and physical therapy was not helpful. These things made Mr. Oh realize that for patients with dementia, it was not only their brains that needed care, but their hearts also needed attention and care.
Why a therapy dog?
You Oh said that it started from a coincidence. When Grandma came back home, Grandma’s brain was already deteriorating. It happened that your dog went to play with Grandma and you saw Grandma’s reaction. Grandma looked at the dog. Even though in the past, no matter what anyone did or said, Grandma never paid attention.
“Dogs are animals of unconditional love. They never judge humans.”
Every dog owner knows that when we start raising a dog, we live with it, take care of it, and love it like it’s a member of our family. Sometimes we even sit and discuss life problems with it. This love makes dogs something that heals. So, Khun O started to study deeply and found that treating dogs with dementia can help because dogs never judge anyone. This makes humans feel happy, warm, and comfortable being themselves to the fullest.
What kind of courses can develop dogs into therapy dogs?
The curriculum that Therapy Dog Thailand uses comes from a reputable organization that has been established for more than 10 years, Therapy Dog Association Switzerland, which has been a part in supporting your business, O, in creating the curriculum and establishing this business because Switzerland is a country with a good quality of life. They are concerned about dogs, dog owners, and patients. They have training standards and a clear curriculum for training. They have screening methods, procedures, and tests to determine what characteristics dogs that are certified should have.
“Therapy Dog doesn’t just help people with dementia.”
Research has found that Therapy Dogs can help many groups of people, such as patients with dementia. Dogs can help patients eat more, resulting in increased weight. They can also help patients talk more. Or patients with high blood pressure who, when they are with therapy dogs, have better heart rates and blood pressure levels. In the elderly group, they can exercise more and be happier in their lives.
Improving the curriculum to suit Thai people
We cannot use the entire curriculum from Switzerland because there are still contexts of practice that are different in our country, where practices are different. For example, methods of eating, living, raising dogs, and accepting dogs in society, etc. When using it in Thailand, the curriculum must be adjusted to suit the context of Thai people by talking to various agencies, organizations, or foundations to understand the contexts in which dogs can help, such as the Foundation for the Blind and the Deaf, the Thai Red Cross Society that cares for the elderly, children, and groups caring for people with depression, etc.
“When you send your dog to school and finish, how will you earn money?”
When we started training dogs to be therapy dogs, of course some people misunderstood that it was training dogs to use them to earn income from treating patients. But no, Oh revealed that the organization itself has never supported earning income from therapy dogs. Most of these types of organizations abroad are associations or foundations, so they do not send dogs to study to earn income.
Qualities of a Dog Owner
Owners of the youth dog must be 14-18 years old and the adult dog must be 18-65 years old. Owners must live with the dog they are training for at least 1 year and have time to attend classes to complete the allotted 30 hours. Classes are held 2 hours per week with no more than 2 absences or 4 hours. Owners must be physically and healthily fit and free of contagious diseases.
The relationship between owner and dog is very important for effective therapy dog training.
Dog characteristics
As for the dog, there is no breed requirement. It can be a stray dog, a Thai dog, or a fierce dog breed. All of them can be brought in for training. It depends on whether they can pass the practical test or not. Because the dog must be able to listen to basic commands. It does not have to be accurate to the point of having to understand every command. But it must understand some things and not be afraid of living outside. It must have received all the vaccinations and be healthy.
“Theory is the key.”
During the theoretical training, it will be a period of understanding the dog of the owner. Understanding is the key to training a dog. The owner must be able to give commands to his/her dog and take the dog to train in an environment that has never been encountered before. Therefore, the owner must understand, adapt and be familiar with the environment in order to take care of a dog that is not familiar with it.
Why do most people come to study?
Mr. O said that people who come to receive services can be divided into 3 main types:
- Likes to do activities with dogs. Dog owners themselves are happy to spend time with their dogs. It’s like finding an activity to do together and they find this activity fun. Most of the time, this type of owner will take their dog out for a walk, go swimming, or run in various places.
- There are patients in the home who need to be cared for.
- Those who have symptoms themselves and want to use dogs to help, such as those with depression, Allfine provides free training funds for people in this group.
Expense and income calculation
For the cost, the adult course is 70,000-80,000 baht. The course duration is 5 months. Everything in the course is teaching in every dimension. Dog training may seem very expensive, but in fact, when you come to study, you are not only learning dog training, but also learning how to live. It is like learning how to live with family members. You will understand children in the house, the elderly in the house. You will learn how to talk to people, how to choose the right approach, how to live with people, how to train our dogs to be with people, and how to help people with therapy.
“It’s not just about training dogs, it’s about training people.”
Allfine’s main income comes from training. The company has no policy of making money from using therapy dogs. And work in the category of therapy dog training is a type of work that requires examples of results before people are interested in training. In order for everyone to see what using therapy dogs is like, the company has collaborated with various foundations to help them by using therapy dogs, in order to use dogs as another element in helping to solve social problems.
Allfine’s Goal
Mr. O said that right now, if we talk about All Fine’s goals, it would be a big deal. So, he wanted us to look at the goals of Therapy Dog Thailand instead, which is to promote the use of therapy dogs as an alternative tool for doctors to treat and care for patients or people who need them.
Conclusion
Social work is not easy because there are many social problems. Starting a social business requires a lot of clarity. You can’t do business halfway because every process of doing social business must be measurable to show that the results can really help solve social problems.
“We must use our hearts, use positive thinking, and use happiness in doing community enterprises.”Mr. O Siriwan Osatharakul, Founder and CEO of All Fine Co., Ltd.
Help solve social problems while earning income. Some of the profits are used to circulate in the business. Another part is given in the form of helping and solving social problems. This is what makes Social Enterprises survive and be sustainable.
Therapy Dogs of Thailand | The Practical Sustainability “Friend” Enterprise Society
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Tel: +66 627 077 999
Email: contact@therapydogthailand.org
LINE: @tdogt
Website: https://www.therapydogthailand.org/donation
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Supported by the Office of Social Enterprise Promotion (OSEP)
