By Elena Volodina | Director of the Diema's Dream Fund (Russia)
Hi, how are you! We are really pleased to share with you the news!
Thanks to your support, we continue to help orphans and bring them to the doctors, orthopedists, organize extra food and education. And again we had a lot of fun with children and dogs! Stepa and Katya (all names have been changed) showed everyone the whole show - throwing a toy to the different corners of the room, and the dogs raced happily after it. They also hid the toy and gave commands to search. And it didn’t matter that sometimes it flew directly over the heads or fell behind the sofa - kids were very happy like in the circus!
Stepa was at his best - seeing dogs, he jumped with delight and then ran to hug the dogs! And during this session he managed to do everything possible - he played, gave the command, held the dog on a leash, and lay on the mat. This child is very cheerful and sociable - even more so with dogs around him.
The last time Nika and Joy were able to play even with Vanya, who always watched lessons from afar and made funny comments. And this time he smartest dogs immediately went to Vanya and literally forced him to play with them - and they succeeded! Moreover - Vanya even stroked the dogs, his fear is gradually disappearing!
Canis therapy is an amazing technique. Even children who watch the lessons from afar due to certain disabilities or fears, are involved in the process. They look, watch dogs, hear them, and this passive participation, similar to indifference, can be a very long one for some children. But absolutely every child has the time when he or she makes some active action which means - I'm ready to have a tactile contact.
For example, Olga - this girl can’t walk as she has a very strong muscle spasticity, particularly of the hands, sometimes it seems that she can’t open them at all. She cannot talk, smile, play with other children - they feel that she hurts them deliberately. Dogs regularly approached her, passed her by, she watched sessions of other children, but she wasn’t actively engaged. And this time as soon as we entered the room, she began to twitch, stretch her hands to the dogs and made it very clear - I want to do it! First the dogs approached her, sitting in a wheelchair - she was able to open her hands and tried to stroke the dogs. And then we put it on the mat. Even though Olya could not lie down straight, spasticity does not allow her to center the body - she started to roll over showing acrobatic tricks, crawled around the dogs, rub against them. And after this eventried to play with Vitalik, and although it still does not work, we know - Olya can do it!
Timur is getting better at feeding the dogs from his hands that are strongly severed by spasticity. And Syoma walked around the dogs nervously for a long time, shaking his head, pulling his hands and feet - it's hard for him to find his own sensitivity. But after lying with dogs even for 10 min, he stopped making unnecessary movements, sat quietly next to the dog and stroked her.
Thank you for helping us! Let's rejoice together!
By Elena Volodina | Director of the Diema's Dream Fund (Russia)
By Anastasia Starobykhovskaya | Program Manager
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