Every week, Sunshine Therapy Dogs receives visit requests from organizations, schools, groups and individuals who are looking for a “pawsitive” connection. They understand the therapeutic value of a visit from one of our friendly dogs! Visits from these friendly dogs provide smiles, cuddles and help to alleviate feelings of loneliness and isolation. And there is a ripple effect! Once a group has received a visit from Sunshine Therapy Dogs, they share their experience with others, generating more requests.
More and more, we are fielding visit requests from areas outside of our current service area – in fact, they are coming from all across the province. In 2024, we grew our footprint to include Durham, Peel, York, Halton. With Program Directors up and running in each of these regions, we have assessed just over 100 new volunteers. Hamilton-Niagara, Guelph and Peterborough are close behind and will be conducting their first assessments early in 2025.
So what’s next? We want to be able to say “yes” to as many visits as possible! We are currently recruiting for Program Directors in Barrie, Kitchener-Waterloo and London who will then be actively searching for new volunteers in their respective regions. That puts us on a clear path to world domination – one friendly dog at a time! If you’re looking to volunteer, have suggestions for people or places that might benefit from a visit or you want to support us growing in your community, reach out to info2@sunshinetherapydogs.ca.
