St. John Ambulance wants your workplace to go to the dogs

Miss your canine companion when you're at work? Perhaps a workplace visit from a therapy dog could brighten your day with a littlefurry fuzziness.

TheSt. John Ambulance N.L. Council is looking to expand its dog therapy program they bring dogs to seniors homes and hospitals, even colleges and universities during exam week to include workplaces.

Roberta Hewitt, director of marketing and community relations for the council, says the program aims to improve workplace morale.

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"The effect is absolutely immediate," she said. "Everyone is just so excited to see them. it's just a remarkable program. We say we're spreading smiles."

That's why St. John Ambulance is launching the therapy program, and offering it to corporate sponsors for $1,000.

"We have a therapy dog catalog, and companies can thumb through it and select a therapy dog," said Hewitt. "It's our hope that through repeated visits over the course of this year, that the company and the therapy dog and volunteerwill build up a relationship, and this will help improve employee morale, and reduce stress in the workplace."

Whatever works for the client

Visits are very casual, says therapy dog volunteer Rachelle Ryan Butt,owner of Spock, a friendly St. Bernard. Dogs can go desk to desk, for patting and cuddling.

"It's very casual. It can be whatever works for that particular client or individual," she said. "He's not everybody's cup of tea. He is huge, sometimes people are a little thrown off by his size, but we do have dogs of all shapes and sizes, so we have something for everybody."

If they did want to attempt to interact with a dog, our therapy dogs would certainly be the cream of the crop to try that with.- Roberta Hewitt

Sponsorship money that will go directly back into St. JohnAmbulance programs, said Hewitt.

For people who are nervous around dogs, for whatever reason, said Hewitt, the dogs are on leash and under control by their owners, said Hewitt.

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"If a workplace had an employee who was particularly scared of dogs or who had a bad experience, we would ensure that we would work with that company to make sure that our volunteer was aware ofthis, andthat person would not be required to attend or participate in any of this," she said.

Therapy dogs have been tested for their temperament, she said.

"So if they did want to attempt to interact with a dog, our therapy dogs would certainly be the cream of the crop to try that with."