Animal-Assisted Crisis-Response
A dog-handler team, that has been certified and active as a pet therapy team for at least one year, with a dog at least two-years old, may apply to be screened for animal-assisted crisis response certification. All of our dogs have been certified by HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, Inc.
National -- Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters
National VOAD -- National Member of the Year
Team Shih Tzu (Now and Then)
History (and Irony) of HOPE AACR
In researching HOPE AACR and our support after 9/11, for a presentation to be made Monday, 9/11/23, to the MD VOAD, with the help of Jill Cucaz, our HOPE AACR Historian, I thought you might appreciate the following
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From American Kennel Club’s “AKC Family Dog”
The Legacy of Hero 9/11 Dogs
By Mara Bovsun
Sponsored by Family Dog
Published: Sep 07, 2022
Updated: Sep 06, 2023
The Power of Therapy Dogs When Disaster Strikes
The notion that dogs can ease human emotional suffering is not new. Anyone who’s cried in the presence of a dog knows that. A 4-pound Yorkshire Terrier named Smoky is credited with being the first therapy dog, cheering wounded soldiers in hospitals on the islands around New Guinea during World War II.
Dog trainer Cindy Ehlers first recognized the power of therapy dogs after the Thurston High School shooting, in Springfield, Oregon on May 21, 1998. She accompanied one of the first therapy dogs to work with the Red Cross in a disaster and was one of the first to be certified for crisis response.
After that experience, Ehlers got a Keeshond puppy she named Tikva, and trained her for crisis-response work. She also started an organization that is today the HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response, in Eugene, Oregon.
On 9/11, Ehlers and Tikva traveled to New York. Dealing with such enormous waves of grief, fear, and confusion goes way beyond what is required of a therapy dog who visits hospitals and nursing homes. Ehlers says she saw some become too stressed to work — though they tried, not all dogs were able to handle the environment.
Most teams stayed at the Family Assistance Centers, helping the relatives of the dead and missing. Red Cross mental-health experts saw that workers were not talking to the human therapists, and thought maybe they would talk to the dogs. Tikva, because of her crisis-relief training, became one of the few dogs who worked at Ground Zero helping the responders. Her preparation for working in this environment, as well as her cute looks, rock-solid temperament, and unusual breed, made her ideal for taking minds off the horror, if just for a few moments.
Ehlers says that that was where these dogs earned the nickname that they are known by now: “comfort dogs.” “A firefighter called up V-Mat [Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams] after we left and said, ‘Where are those comfort dogs? They’re the only thing that helps me get through the day.'”
These are two pictures of Cindy and Tikva at Ground Zero.
Below is a link to a ten minute video on Cindy and Tikva. Go to 8:29 minutes of the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipt6RrWGOvk
Dogs with Jobs - Season 4, Episode 9: Kaiser, Tikva, Macho
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police force requires top-notch working dogs. Kaiser is nearing the end of a rigorous three-month training program with his handle...
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Now the irony:
Cindy visited after that high school shooting with her therapy dog, Bear. She took her one year old puppy to Ground Zero, the “Pit”, one of only four dogs there, and was there for weeks. The other support was at the Family Assistance Center, being held at Pier 94, in Manhattan. That puppy was named Tikva.
My current HOPE AACR dog partner is “the Bear”. My year-and-a-half old HOPEful puppy is named Ha’Tikvah, Hebrew for “the Hope”, call name, Tikva.