Canine Assisted Education

We are delighted to announce that we will be offering Canine Assisted Education from September 1st, 2022. Our Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) services are facilitated by Bachelor degree educators who have extensive experience working with children and young people. They are highly skilled professionals who bring a level of expertise and knowledge of teaching, learning and differentiation (the process of developing a goals-based program that embraces each person’s individual learning needs).

Our specially trained Australian Cobberdogs have undergone extensive cognitive and behavioural training to determine their suitability for this role. Prior to engaging with one of our dogs, clients/participants are required to attend a canine safety and wellbeing session (we take various different approaches to delivering this session depending on our clients’/participants’ needs).

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It is widely researched and accepted that children and young people need to feel engaged and motivated in order to learn. Daley Connections is committed to employing creative strategies that facilitate constructive and authentic learning experiences. Canine Assisted Education can be used to achieve set objectives in an educational realm. Children appear to readily trust animals as they (dogs) are non-judgemental (Siegal, 2004), and dogs help to foster emotional stability in the classroom by providing a friend with whom the child can form a bond (Friesen, 2010a). In a recent study conducted by Lloyd and Sorin at James Cook University, QLD, results showed:

Student attendance improved (Students who historically had poor attendance records made the point of attending the sessions so that they could read to the dogs)
Students’ literacy skills improved substantially. The majority of students reported improvements to themselves as learners, including enhanced confidence, attitude and cooperation and reported improvements in social relations with both their peers and their teachers
the benefits of dog-assisted programs to motivate students and improve their reading, confidence and self-esteem, as well as enhance relationships with people and dogs, were highly evident.

Our Dogs' Welfare Matters To Us

Our dogs’ health and wellbeing comes before our own; they are after all, members of our family. We have developed strict policies to ensure that our dogs are cared for in the highest sense. They do not exceed more than 45 minutes ‘of work’ without a break, as this requires them to concentrate and focus for a long time, which is quite exhausting for our furry friends who love to run and play! We only allocate a few sessions throughout the day for our Canine Assisted Education sessions. This is so our dogs have the chance to engage in normal dog behaviour. Our dogs are always leashed during a session and can be removed from the session at any time upon the client/participant or practitioner’s request. Like humans, dogs have good and bad days, so if one of our specially trained dogs isn’t performing to their potential, we may substitute the session with another one of our dogs or use another method to teach the intended skill/concept. We strictly adhere to the Australian Code of Conduct for the Animal Assisted Services Sector.

Our specially trained dogs:

Receive regular parasite prevention treatment (flea and ticks, worms, etc)
Consult with a veterinarian/trainer to maintain suitability for this line of work
Are regularly reviewed for zoonotic diseases, musculoskeletal health, temperament and overall health
Are fed a high quality diet that supports healthy growth and development
Participate in canine enrichment activities for mental stimulation and cognitive improvement (when not ‘working’).

You can read our Canine Wellbeing Fact Sheet here.

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