Contributed by: Furry Friends Therapy Dogs

If your dog loves attention and is friendly with people and other dogs, Furry Friends Therapy Dogs, Inc. offers the opportunity to give your dog an outlet for it’s natural inclinations. We are always in search of new volunteers to help us serve the communities we visit monthly in Coos County.

We visit nursing homes, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, hospitals, schools etc., sharing our dogs with people who sometimes don’t have another visitor all month. The experience is rewarding for everyone involved, sharing smiles and love with our dogs. The steps to take to become one of us, and how to contact us, is shared below:

1. Pass the Canine Good Citizen Test with your dog, composed of basic commands (like come, sit, stay, etc), being approached and touched by a stranger, some distractions and a brief separation.

2. Three evaluation visits with another team (dog/handler), at three different facilities, with three different Board members evaluating, usually scheduling one or two per month.

3. After the three successful evaluations, you and your dog will get Furry Friends vests and name tags, and you will be able to choose one or more regular visits from our monthly calendar each month. We go in pairs (2 teams) to these visits, so you’ll always have an experienced team to work with as you start out.

4. We currently visit residents/patients at most care facilities and hospitals in Coos County. Some are in Bandon, Coquille and Myrtle Point. Most are currently scheduled during the daytime on weekdays and Saturdays.

To contact us: call 541-267-7427 or email to furryfriendsvisits@gmail.com or text to 541-297-3766.