You might be wondering why I haven’t talked about my Therapy work for a while…well, we stopped doing visits at the end of last year when my humans thought we were doing the “moving overseas” thing…and then with Hsin-Yi’s father getting very sick and dying, and Paul’s father getting the scary cancer sickness so that both my humans were away for a long time…it has been been a long time before my humans were not so stressy and things became like the way it was before.
Hsin-Yi talked to the humans at Outreach Therapy Pets and told them we were in New Zealand for another year and so would like to join the team again…and they said we could do a new kind of visits this year! This is to go and see children who live in a special home, because they have been hurt by their mummies or daddies or because they are doing things to hurt themselves, like cutting themselves.
The visits are arranged like a school term, with different “lessons” for the children each week and we dogs have to help the children learn about things, like Personal Safety Around Animals, Animal First Aid and Caring for a Pet…so we had to wait until the term started again before we could join back in.
Well, the term started again this week – and we went on our first visit! We were not allowed to take photos because these are special children and some people might want to hurt them if they find out who and where they are…so Hsin-Yi only got some of me and my friend, Kira the German Shepherd, in our Outreach bandanas – sorry it was dark so not very good pictures! 
I would have really liked to show you what I did on my visit because it was so exciting and so much fun. There were 3 dogs this time: me, Kira and a German Shepherd-cross called Breeze, and the lesson that night was Working With Animals.
Breeze’s human works for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) Detector Dog programme and he trains doggies to sniff out foods and plants which are not allowed to be brought into New Zealand, because of something called “biosecurity”. Isn’t that a cool job? My human, Hsin-Yi, wrote an article about detector dogs last year and she got to go out to the training centre and interview the handlers and watch the dogs in action.
'active' detector dog working...
There are 2 types of detector dogs: “active” dogs will jump and climb over boxes and parcels and bags, sniffing for things.
If they find something, they get really excited and paw the box, trying to get in. They are used mostly for checking cargo and mail and other containers…
'passive' detector dog working...
…whereas ”passive” dogs just trot nicely and sniff things or people and if they find something, they sit next to the box or person.
They are used a lot at the airport to check humans with their luggage because they don’t scare people so much.
In fact, almost all of them are Beagles because they look so sweet and un-scary – and of course, they have a brilliant nose! They can smell anything – even when it is inside a plastic cover that is ‘vacuum sealed’. You can never fool them.
MAF have a special house near the airport where the detector dogs live when they are not working. And they also have a special breeding programme so that they can make Beagle puppies that have the right personalities to be a detector dog.
Detector dogs are really good at their jobs – they can check 350 passengers in just 20 minutes!! This makes them faster and better than putting the bags through those machines which can look through things with a special light called ‘X-rays’.
But what makes them really good is a thing called drive – (this is something I don’t have have a lot of! 
) – this means that they always have lots of energy and want to be busy all the time and are happy to do the same thing over and over again..they never want to stop!
A lot of top detector dogs are actually doggies that were terrible pets, always being too naughty with too much energy…so their families gave them to MAF so they can have a new career as a government agent!
MAF handlers also go to rescue shelters sometimes to look for suitable doggies – they walk down past all the cages and bounce a tennis ball and they look for the dogs that go crazy when they see the ball – and forget everything else: other dogs, food, people, everything – all they want is the ball. This means that these dogs have a very strong play drive, which is important because many detector dogs are trained using a toy as a reward.
Beagles are trained using food rewards because they have a very strong food drive!
For more information about the MAF Detector Dog programme, please visit: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/biosec/camp-acts/detector-dog
and FAQ’s about Detector Dogs.
So anyway, first, we all sat and listened to Breeze’s human talk about his job and other jobs working with animals. It was very interesting. (And he told us that Breeze was actually a failed detector dog because she didn’t have enough drive!)
Then they asked Hsin-Yi to show the children some of the tricks I do…so we did – and then all the children wanted to try and do those tricks with me! So Hsin-Yi gave them treats and helped them do training with me…I loved all the attention I was getting and the children loved getting me to march with them and walk through their legs and telling me to bark – and most of all, doing the shimmy with me!
‘Shimmy’ is when they wriggle their shoulders and I have to shake my head/body at the same time – Hsin-Yi taught me to do this using clicker training: whenever I got wet and would shake myself off – she would say “Shimmy! Shimmy” and click & treat. Now it’s one of our dance moves. The children loved this because when I did it, they would get showered in drool and then run squealing and laughing away!
I was really tired when we finally left – I only usually do training with Hsin-Yi for about 1o-15 minutes at a time max but I was doing tricks with the children for half an hour! I didn’t even need a walk when I got home…I just put myself straight to bed!
We will be going to visit the children every Thursday night for the next few weeks…can’t wait to see what we’re going to do next week!
Wow--what interesting info, Honey! We don't know of any programs like this here in the States, but we're sure they exist. What important doggies!
And grrreat work with the kids!
Wuv,
Gus and Waldo
Hi Honey!
I think that she like better this new job 
I was barking/ talking with aninhas today asking for you and about your new adventures
That lessons must be very cool and you can meet new friends
Breeze look so cool
That shimmy thing look very crazy.
hehehehe
Sorry we dont have been visiting a lot
Aninhas is studing for her exams, so all the time she can spare is all for me and my plays with the ball
Wish you are ok and happy
Give a big lick to Hsin-Yi from me and aninhas
auf auf
hugs and kisses from kikos world
Honey, I am so proud of you for doing such good work. It must be awesome to know that you made such special children smile and be happy.
I am a therapy dog too -- i specialize in kids too -- i am very durable and do well with them -- i go to 3 different hospitals once a week.
woodrow
Wow -- what a GREAT and rewarding job! Glad to hear it was a successful visit. We think you look pretty posh in your bandana!
That is furry furry khool!
I am so happy woo shared that with us!
I'm even happier woo are getting to do some FURRY PAWESOME therapy work!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
That sounds like so much fun! Thanks for sharing Honey. Stories like this is what motivates me to try to get Jackal ready.
What a great program Honey. I am sure the kids were impressed with all your skills and learned some good lessons. I think I would be a good detector dog since I am so good at tracking.
Your friend,
Niamh
How rewarding of a job to have. =) mom has been looking into it for me to do too, but she says I may not pass b/c I am still too hyper.
hello honey its dennis the vizsla dog hay i think tucker cud do that detektor dog job!!! eksept he wood sit by the sootkayses wot had fud in them and as soon as the handlers opend the sootkayses for inspekshun he wood eet wotever wuz inside ha ha ok bye
Your work is awesome, Honey! I bet those kids feel much better after your visit!
Great post about those amazing working dogs!
Kisses
Rufus and Indie
Oh, Honey, that is such an awesome thing to do -- Mom hopes one day to be able to have a therapy dog. Those children must have been thrilled with you -- you brought such fun into their sad lives. Thank you for being such a wonderful pet.
Woos, the OP Pack
Pee Ess, Dakota woos her thanks for your nice words.
That is a REALLY great thing that you're doing for those kids Honey! It's such a neat thing to be able to make such an impact and bring joy to some kids who have been through some rough times. I bet they LOVE how big and loveable you are too!
It's great that you get to work with children. Dogs make such a difference.
Very interesting information about the MAF Detector dogs. I really enjoyed that.
You should be very proud of yourself Honey:)
Hi Honey,
You are a really great role model for us dogs! We wish we could work like you, but our humans say we can't do that because we don't behave well enough…
Mum says Cinnamon would have made a good MAF dog! She is enthusiastic about any activities she does with humans and her concentration lasts very long for dogs. But, I (Cookie) think she wouldn't be a MAF dog because she barks too much and gets intimidated easily by strange movements and sounds.
Wow, Honey, I'm super impressed!! How rewarding to be doing something so nice to help these kids. You're Mom and Dad must be proud of you. You must be really gentle and calm (and patient) to do all of that. I'm sure these kids will remember your visits forever. Good job!!! You know how to do SO MANY amazing things!!!
I, on the other hand, perfectly fit the description of the MAF detection dogs. That's what I'm being trained for now, only I'm not looking for food or plants. Shhhh. Don't tell anybody tho. I'll be posting about it soon (hopefully) on my blog. They laughed when Mom signed me up because I'm a Dane, but they aren't laughing now
Yes, I'm the "active" type of search dog, and I am OBSESSED with searching! Remember, Shhhhhh.
Behr Behr
What a wonderful job you are doing Honey!!! And the search dogs are amazing too! Meowm squelaed at that picture with all the beagles in it!
Hey, did you know that Martha and Bailey Basset are having a commentathon today? They are, you should go visit!
I could swear I found Martha and Bailey thru your sidebar, but I don't see them there. They are here:
http://marthabasset.blogspot.com/
Hi Honey!!
I;m so glad you came by. I have miss everybody so much and since we just got our computer back we are still so far behind of visiting everybody. I am so proud of you and your Mommy far what you are doing with those kids. We are very proud of you.
I just saw where you tagged me for the Mommy aqnd Daddy thingie. I was rescued from the street so I don't know anything about my parents. I don't have a human Daddy but I do have my human Mommy. When we get caught up, I will ask Mommy to help me do this tag. Your parents looked like very nice parents.
I'm glad you loked my new haircut. I'll be back soon to readup on everything we missed while my computer was sickly.
{{{huggiesa}}}….Mona
Wow Honey! You have been busy. It is great that you help those kids.
Mom had just in this weekend convesation with her friend about food motivated and _FOOD_ motivated dogs. He has jackrussel and he told that it is really food motivated. Mom laught at him and told that beagle can be hypnotised by meetball when you teach him something like ball crazy dogs to ball. His jackrussel just love to have food for treat.
Hi Honey,
Thanks for stopping by our blog to let us know about this post. It really cheered my mum up. You are doing a great job with those poor kiddies. I bet they loved you.
So glad you are spreading your Honey loveliness around again.
Luv Scott xxx
Wow Honey, I'm glad that you are back being a therapy dog. What good work you do!
Hi Honey
Thank you so much for visiting us on our 100th post and leaving such a lovely comment.
We cant believe we have never met as we have so many mutual friends.
We would love to keep in touch -- you have a very important job to do so hope you are not too busy.
you must be a very calm dog to work with children -- we look forward to getting to know you better.
thanks again for the viist
love
Martha & Bailey xxx
Hi Honey hey Star is going to classes to be a therapy dawg like you. I does not like to leeve the howse so I cannot do it. But I am glad Star is gonna do it cause I likes when she leeves the howse! I jest wish she didnt take Mummy with her.
Yer pal Dozer
Honey, we're so happy to hear your humans are getting some kind of normality back, of course it took time, but now you get to enjoy your therapy visits again, we know how important they are to you.
Loved the feature on the Detector dogs, aren't they awesome? We're going to check out the link, of course we liked the bit about the Beagles the best
We can't remember if we answered this, we are so behind with the bloggies it's making our heads spin….but yes, Rosie really is having puppies! They are due on 4th July, we are all so excited, especially dad-to-be Alfie! Here is our new website if you're interested: http://www.dughallmor.com
Slobbers xx
Hi Honey,
Thank you so much for the 'Paw it Forward' present!! Sorry for our mum's ungratefulness. She forgot to write about a copy of articles on Beagles that your human had kindly sent to her. Actually a photo in one of the articles looks just like us, Cookie and Cinnamon, our mum says! She says it reminds her of us a year and half ago.
Yes, the treats you sent us taste great! Have you tried K9 Natural freeze dried treats? They taste great too, although we can't get them often because they are much more expensive than those available from any supermarkets. We had a chance to taste them only when they were sold at 50% discount. They are just like the treats you gave us, tasty and not sticky!
We can't wait to see you this weekend! Hope the weather will be fine!
Honey, how wonderful that you are helping little humans. You and your humans are fantastic for giving so much to the community. And thanks for sharing about the detector dogs, that was fascinating.
What a wonderful thing for those children! You are such a good girl Honey! And neat story about the detector dogs….thanks for sharing.
Nala
Much obliged for giving us some reliable suggestions on this topic. I have found a great variety of reliable information about dog training and some not-so-good suggestions. Do you have any more savvy information or places on the Internet that I can find more detailed suggestions? This would be very much appreciated! Either way, continue the good work!