The WAGtime pet program of Summa Health System allows teams of trained pet owners and their dogs to visit with patients and family members within the hospital.
Pet visitation teams have a profound impact on the hospital patients they meet, bringing smiles to their faces and helping to lift their spirits.
This program enables pet owner volunteers to provide services to people in their own community while spending quality time with their dogs.
Skills:
- Dogs must have good manners!: All WAGtime pets must be controllable, reliable, and predictable. They must have the social skills to set out and visit with strangers!
- Owners must be friendly and prepared!: All WAGtime owners must be willing to individually approach patients and introduce the WAGtime program.
- Decision Making/ Problem Solving: WAGtime owners must be comfortable making decisions about what is best for the patient and their pet.
Requirements:
FAQs
- How old does my dog have to be to participate? The dog must be at least 1 year of age
- Do you only accept dogs in your program? Yes. Summa Health System only allows dogs for visitations, other pets such as birds, cats, etc. are not accepted in this program.
- How can I find more information about Delta Society? www.deltasociety.org
- My Dog has been certified through Therapy Dog International (TDI), do I still need to go through the Delta Society training and evaluation process? Yes, Summa Health System does not accept TDI certified dogs in the WAGtime program. Only registered Delta Society Pet Partner Teams can participate. This is Summa Health System policy.
- Are only certain dog breeds accepted in this program? No, all breeds of dogs are able to participate in this program, given they meet all the requirements set forth by Delta Society and Summa Health System.
