Healthcare workers spend their days caring for others. But who cares for the people who do the caring? Nurses, physicians, technicians, and other frontline healthcare professionals face demanding work environments that can affect stress, emotional well-being, and their ability to cope throughout the workday. Building a more resilient healthcare workforce…
Your Questions About Volunteering with Your Pet, Answered Want to Volunteer with Your Pet? You’re in the Right Place Maybe your dog loves meeting neighbors. Maybe your cat curls up on the lap of every guest in your home. Maybe your rabbit, bird, or guinea pig has a way of making people smile. If you have ever wanted to volunteer with your pet, Pet Partners can…
Therapy animal handlers enjoy volunteering their time to enhance the lives of others, but it’s important that therapy animals are also comfortable doing this work. Many people wonder whether or not therapy animals actually like their jobs. Two recent studies have addressed this question. A 2018 Applied Animal Behaviour Science study found…
Many people who want to volunteer with their pet start with a simple idea: My pet brings so much joy to people. Could I share their love through volunteering? When you first start exploring volunteering with your pet as a therapy animal, one of the first names you may see is Pet Partners. That’s because we’re one of the largest and most established therapy…
Congratulations! Your dog passed the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test. That’s a big deal, and you should feel proud. You and your dog have already built a strong bond, and you’ve taken the time to help them learn important skills. That kind of dedication means a lot. Now, maybe you’re…
Nominations for the 2025 Pet Partners Pet of the Year: Now Open! Today’s the day! Be a part of the action in the fourth annual Pet Partners Pet of the Year! This exciting fundraiser honors the furry, feathered, and scaled companions who make our lives better. Does your dog stand…
October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, and in honor of this important observance that helps shelter dogs find homes with loving families, we’re pleased to share this blog post about shelter pets as therapy animals. Approximately 6.5 million animals enter shelters across the U.S each year. If you’re like…
When holidays come around, it might be tempting to give your animal an adorable pair of cupid wings or a Santa hat in preparation for a visit. But before you dust off your pet’s costume collection, take a minute to learn about why it’s best to leave the costumes at…
This post is part of a continuing series on preparing your pet for therapy animal work. Animals who become part of our Therapy Animal Program need some essential skills in order to do this work safely and successfully. While the skills will vary depending on the animal's species, all prospective…
This post is part of a continuing series on preparing your pet for therapy animal work. If you’re interested in becoming a therapy animal team with your pet, you’ll want to take time to get your animal ready for doing this work. The most important aspect of a successful therapy…
Pet Partners is committed to improving human health and well-being through the human-animal bond, and this includes finding new ways to bring the effects of therapy animals to people who can benefit. Walk With Me is a special initiative within the Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program for teams who would…
The first-ever Pet Partners Pet of the Year, a new signature fundraising competition to support Pet Partners, was held February 1–March 15, 2022. And we are so excited at the success of this inaugural event! During the six-week competition, pet candidates (with help from the humans who love them) raised…
If you’re a registered Pet Partners therapy animal team in the U.S. or Canada, you received a team rating when you completed your team evaluation: it’s listed on your acceptance letter. And if you’re a staff member at a facility that receives visits from Pet Partners teams, you might be…
Originally published March 2020; updated November 2020 As the world deals with the effects of COVID-19, one of the most important mitigation strategies is social distancing: having people distance and isolate themselves to help prevent spread of the virus. This important public health measure means that people are staying home…
With the sudden impact of COVID-19 on the therapy animal community, Pet Partners found ourselves in a challenging situation: the love of animals was needed more than ever, but the ability to bring therapy animals to people was largely cut off. We immediately began considering the countless ways in which…
Join us as we kick off our 3rd annual Pet Partners Pet of the Year fundraising event! This exciting six-week fundraising competition honors the furry, feathered, and scaled companions who make our lives better. Do you think your dog stands out from the pack? Your feline friend has amazing cat-itude?…
