Trained Pets As Therapy Volunteers Are Wanted By Health Care Facilities Nationally!
Want To Help our Frail,
Challenged and Vulnerable Communities?
Leah with Millie and Tricia with Pandora
National and International - Pets As Therapy Correspondence Training E-Course
This is a professional course and is therefore, suitable for volunteers; and pet lovers seeking a small income whilst working with their best 4-legged buddy. If you would like to earn a small income as a professional pets as therapy visitor, please talk with Velma before you enrol. Contact Velma at: petcourses@yahoo.com
Welcome to pets as therapy and to the marvelous rewards and personal satisfaction gained from working as a trained volunteer in a professionally structured and managed pet therapy program.
Our volunteers often express how personally rewarding and satisfying it is to gain the skills, understanding and methods, to interact with adults and children with challenges; and to share the affection of their pets to bring smiles to faces and joy into hearts - pets have a habit of doing that to people, don’t they!
Sarah and Brandy
If you live in or close to Wollongong, Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle, Velma’s Pets As Therapy are seeking more volunteers to join our dedicated team. We are looking for people with a pet that enjoys the attention of strangers, who would like to train to offer conversation, companionship and general interaction with the frail, vulnrable and challenged adults and children on a regular basis.
If you live in other areas of NSW, another state or country, you can take the Pets As Therapy Correspondence Training Course which will show you how to become an independent volunteer in your own area. The course will show you how to start, monitor and manage safe and successful volunteering in your own location, to local health care facilities. Pets As Therapy Training School keeps a ‘national waiting list’ of health care facilities and clients waiting for a Pets As Therapy Correspondence Training Course graduate and the contact details are passed onto the graduates. Please e-mail or phone Velma and ask for the course details and application form.
Health professionals wanting to commence a pets as therapy program in their local area or facility, can also greatly benefit from the Pets As Therapy Training Course as this demonstrates how to assess and recruit people and pet volunteers; manage and monitor the program; how to offer beneficial interaction with the frail and challenged at the same time as observing strict health and safety procedures.
Jon and Kate with their menagerie
(all these pets passed the course pet assessment)
Visitors Should -
- enjoy meeting and talking with people from all walks of life
- be able to commit to offering a minimum of a few hours once a week, fortnight or month on a regular basis
- have a dog, cat or pet (or access to such a pet) which is healthy, calm, friendly towards all people and other dogs and is well mannered (the course includes full pet training)
- be reliable
- have transport
Lee and Gemma (mother and daughter)
Discount When Enrolling With A Friend
When you enroll in the course at the same time as a friend, there is $25.00 discount off the second course.
What Training Will You Receive When You Enroll As A Volunter With Velma’s Pets As Therapy?
1) The Pets As Therapy Correspondence Course will show you how to train your pet in the specific obedence and positioning required, to offer professional, safe, beneficial pets as therapy to frail and challenged adults and children. This course is considered to be the most professional pets as therapy course in Australia, training volunteers to become the highest skilled pets as therapy volunteers. The correspondence course is managed by Pets As Therapy Training School who trains volunteers for hospitals, community groups and health care facilities throughout Australia as well as for Velma’s Pets As Therapy.
2) Upon enrolling onto the course and joining Velma’s Pets As Therapy (for those living in Wollongong, Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle), volunteers are invited to go out on pets as therapy visits (without their own pet) with VPAT trainers, to watch the theory being put into action.
3) New volunteers are to attend practical training workshops held once per month on a Saturday, for a few hours, at Hornsby, Sydney.
4) When the pet has reached the required standard of training, the pet is given a veterinarian assessment for temperament, healthiness and specific obedience (if a dog) for pets as therapy.
5) When new pet and person volunteers have reached a high level of skills, they will take pets as therapy visits supervised by a VPAT trainer. Visits remain supervised until the person and pet confidently and comfortable know the VPAT health, safety and professional procedures. New volunteers are fully supported by our friendly trainers at all times.
6) When the new pet and person are fully trained, they can chose from a list of health care facilites and clients to visit in their local area. We always have a significant waiting list of facilities through out our area which include hospitals, residential aged care, respite care and schools for challenged children. Volunteers are then reassessed periodically.
Anne and Terra
Michelle and Kyro
How Is The Correspondece Course Taken?
Pets as therapy is ‘highly skilled’ volunteer work and requires a comprehensive training course. There are many health, safety and professional procedures to know plus an awareness of legal and insurance issues. The course is HOME STUDY. You receive a training course as an email attachment. You read each unit and answer the questions at the end of each unit. Most of the answers are in that chapter or the previous chapters. We read and comment on your answers and return these to you. The correspondence course takes approximately 30-50 hours home study. Course students used to studying are inclinded to complete the course after around 30 hours where as people who haven’t studied for a long time, may take around 50 hours.
Phone and e-mail advice and support is provided during the course and if you have access to Sydney, monthly practical training is an optional extra for people training as independent volunteers. Velma’s Pets As Therapy new volunteers are required to attend these. The course trains students to train pets in their own homes, to the level required to pass the assessment. A Course Completion Certificate is awarded to volunteers and their pets on completion of the training course.
Julie receiving her course certificate at a volunteers meeting
Locations of our course graduates and
pets as therapy visitors in Australia
Sydney - North, South, East and West
Southern Highlands
The Central Coast
Wollongong
Grafton
Byron Bay
Northern NSW
Dubbo
Brisbane
Canberra
South Australia
Adelaide
Victoria
Please e-mail us to send you the full details of our Pets As Therapy Correspondence Training Course. The course fee is $379.50 (Australian) when taken by e-mail; or $479.50 when taken by usual Australia Post. International students are required to take the course by e-mail.
Want to work in a field where miracles happen often?
Are you community spirited; have good people skills; available once or twice a month on a morning, Monday-Sunday; have transport and a friendly, healthy, well mannered pet that loves meeting people and receiving lots of cuddles and kisses? Then you could be witnessing little miracles yourself very soon!
Contact Velma for more details on 02 9418 4343 or 0432 578 210 or email: velma@velmaspetsastherapy.com.au
