Dogs lend their paws to help comfort others

FARRAH MAFFAI staff Above, Dingle, a therapy dog with the Furry Angels from Millstone, shows off during a visit with students at the Monmouth County Career Center, Freehold Township. At left, Tyler Brink, 16, Keansburg, scratches Spirit’s belly (l) during the visit. Spirit is a 230-pound English mastiff therapy dog.

MILLSTONE — Man’s best friend. Dogs acquired this nickname because of their unconditional love and acceptance of human failings.

A unique group of local dog owners are bringing this special kind of affection to hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other facilities in order to give comfort to others. They call themselves the Furry Angels.

The Furry Angels are a local chapter of the national, nonprofit organization, Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs. All of the volunteers, and their dogs, have attended training sessions "to prepare our dogs to provide loving and empathetic support where emotional service dogs are indispensable," according to the local chapter’s secretary, Monica LaRue, of Millstone.

Most of the 14 Monmouth County chapter members are from Millstone, Freehold and Manalapan — but the chapter also has one devoted team member from West Hempstead, Long Island, N.Y.

Sharon Gaboff of Millstone is a longtime animal advocate and president of Furry Angels. She started the group with fellow certified therapy dog handlers in June.

Dogs and handlers must attend six weeks of training so the animal can become desen-sitized around medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, walk­ers and crutches. They must also learn to ignore the noise of bedpans and other general distractions found in a hospital or nursing home.

While dogs must be obedient, the most important qualities are a good temperament, and a willingness to meet people and be petted. A test is given after the six weeks of classes, and if the dog and handler pass, Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs will issue identification member­ship badges. The national organiza­tion will also cover the handlers and dogs for accident and liability insurance.

There is a great variety of dogs in the Furry Angels, including breeds such as Great Dane, St. Bernard, golden retriever, Aus­tralian cattle dog and a Dalmatian mix.

The Furry Angels have, so far, held room-to-room visits at local nursing homes to let residents pet the dogs; had children with read­ing disabilities read one-on-one to a dog at the library; vis­ited schools for education on dog safety; and taught Scouts about the proper way to approach dogs.

"A typical visit might be 15 min­utes, or as long as an hour. It all de­pends," LaRue said. "The purpose of each visit is for the dog to provide a little joy and comfort to whomever we visit. We are emo­tional service dogs providing com­fort — this is different from service or Seeing Eye dogs. We also have one special team that pro­vides en­tertainment in the form of various dog tricks.

"We have found that, after a few visits to a facility, we will es­tablish with the Furry Angels coor­dinator a set time that works best for the residents. Our Furry Angels therapy dog visit be­comes part of the official activity cal­endar, and residents look forward to the vis­its," LaRue said.

Furry Angels continues to seek fa­cilities to visit, and corporate or pri­vate donations to provide small gifts during upcoming holiday vis­its. They would also like to encour­age those whose dogs have basic obedience train­ing and think they may be suitable for emotional therapy work to contact them.

For further information, call (732) 462-5184, ext. 7, or write to Furry An­gels at P.O. Box 6384, Freehold, NJ 07728.