On Friday, September 27th, Sparky, a 16 year old Yorkie mix from Poweshiek Animal League Shelter (PALS), visited with residents in The Mayflower Community (Grinnell IA) Health Center. Sparky is the first dog from PALS’ Seniors for Seniors program to visit Mayflower. Blind and mostly deaf, he was surrendered to PALS by his owner who could no longer care for Sparky.
Seniors for Seniors is a partnership formed between PALS and Mayflower by Mindy Bacon, who is a canine myo-manipulative functional therapist as well as a PALS volunteer and PALS Board member. This program pairs senior shelter dogs with residents who wish to engage with animals. The plan is to offer dog visits every other Friday morning, subject to dog availability.
Mindy is in the process of becoming a Teepa Snow Certified Positive Approach to Care (PAC) trainer. The PAC program specializes in professional treatment of people with dementia. Mindy is Mayflower’s Community Engagement Coordinator.
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