Sirius: a star in the Constellation Canis Major
(the brightest star in the sky)
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| It is with great sorrow we said goodbye to Rio (Ch. Dacher's
Gaia Criansa Do Rio), Delta Society Pet Partner 10+ years (retired) and Therapy Dogs International TD. On 7/2/05
Rio, at 14 3/4 years of age, lost his battle with old age and congestive heart failure. Rio's more than 10 years
of therapy work touched thousands of people. His ability to sing was legendary. May he sing forever across the
Rainbow Bridge. |
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Our saddest news to date:
On May 30, 2007, our pioneer PWD, Roughrider's Mandy Lifeboat, left this world at the age of 16+.
Mandy was our first PWD, our first therapy dog, and a dog who touched thousands of lives in her 12+ years of therapy
visits, as well as being an outstanding ambassador for the breed. Our hearts are heavy with her absence, but we
know she's joined Rio over the Rainbow Bridge, and we know we will see our dear "Diva" again.
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Laurie & Jim Hardman and the Do Gato pack |
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Sirius Healing Founder Laurie Hardman and
her cadre of Portuguese Water Dogs have been providing visits and training others to provide animal assisted activities
and therapy since the early 1990s.
 Laurie's canine partners:
Roughrider's Mandy Lifeboat, Am. Can. CD, 1998 Western US Therapy Animal of the
Year, Delta Society Pet Partner, TDI. Mandy crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 5/30/07 at the age of 16.
Ch. Dacher's Gaia Criansa Do Rio, Am./Can. CD, Delta Society Pet Partner, TDI.
Rio crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 7/2/05 at the age of 14.
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Ch. Stargazer's Gatinha Do Algarve, RN; our "Kitty" is a Delta Society
Pet Partner, TDI, and a founding canine for ProjectCANINE's Connecting Canine program. Kitty also acts as my Service
Dog (seizure alert).
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Ch. Do Gato's Catwoman; our "Pickles" follows her mother Kitty and is
also a Delta Society Pet Partner, and founding canine for ProjectCANINE's Connecting Canine program. Pickles is
also my Service Dog, doing seizure alert.
 Our new addition is:
RainCity Do Gato Miss Brown To You; "Billie" is Kitty's Granddaughter,
and is a daughter of Jonah (Am./Int'l. Ch. Do Gato's A Cura Com Amor). Billie is our first brown PWD. Billie is
working on her Connecting Canine endorsements to go along with her show career, and we'll be watching to see if
Billie "inherits" the family trait of being able to sense changes and alert to seizures.
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 Our passion of animal-assisted activities and
therapy has taken us many places, and has given us incredible opportunities for growth in the field. From working
with Delta Society's Visiting Scholars (Japan) program, to visiting inmates of a maximum security prison, it has
been extremely gratifying to see the growth of professionals understanding the role canines can play in our health
and well being. |
| 2008 marks the launch of the non-profit, ProjectCANINE (www.projectcanine.org). Laurie
Hardman is Director of the therapy dog arm, Connecting Canines. Leslie Csokasy (Founder and Co-Owner of Great Dog
- www.gogreatdog.com); Judi Anderson-Wright, MA, CPDT, (Co-Owner of Great Dog); Carolin Behrend, M.E., Healing
Species Puget Sound (www.healingspeciespugetsound.com), Kim Bogart (University
of Washington) and Laurie Hardman comprise the Board of Directors and Program Directors for Project Canine. |
 Sirius Healing has been very proud to offer services
throughout the past 15 years, including therapy visits and training thousands of others how to visit with their
pets. Sirius Healing will continue with referrals and assistance regarding therapy animals throughout ProjectCANINE. |
 It's been an honor to learn and to teach about
animal assisted work. My canine partners have taught me every step of the way. I am now moving into a very exciting
period as our new Non Profit, ProjectCANINE, takes off Spring 2008. |
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Please visit ProjectCANINE at www.projectcanine.org, or
my website at www.siriushealing.com.
- Laurie Hardman
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| All photos above were taken by Stefanie Felix (www.stefaniefelix.com), and
are of Kitty visiting residents of Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center, Shoreline, WA (www.fircrestfriends.org). |
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Animal Assisted Therapy ( AAT )
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is goal-directed intervention in which a therapy
animal is an integral part of the clinical treatment process. AAT is  directed by a healthcare or
human services professional (i.e. Occupational/Physical/Speech Therapists, Social Workers, etc.). AAT is done in
the form of group sessions, one-to-one visits, or co-treatment sessions. AAT visit outcomes are documented by the
healthcare or human services professional. AAT providers may work under the direction of healthcare or human services
providers, or directly with therapists in client sessions.
Animal Assisted Activities ( AAA )
Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) are educational, entertaining, and motivating
activities delivered by specially trained and certified professionals, para-professionals and/or volunteers and
their animals who have met specific criteria and have become registered Delta Society© Pet Partner© teams.
Typical Animal Assisted Activities may be entertaining "shows", visits
to schools, or one-to-one visits with patients and residents in healthcare facilities. Animal Assisted Activities
are not necessarily "goal driven", but are still very therapeutic in nature.
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