Therapy dogs have lessons to teach us about generosity.

When adults want to help their children understand the joy of giving, they often discover that generosity is an abstract concept that can be difficult to describe.

Watching a therapy dog at work can make generosity come to life and become real and tangible.

Seeing animals serve people, we all can learn lessons in generosity through the up close and personal work of a human-animal therapy dog team. People, especially children,relate to animals. They can reach out and touch a friendly therapy dog.

Because dogs can’t use words they demonstrate rather than tell us things about generosity and giving back in service. Here are some of the lessons we can learn from therapy dogs:

1) Anyone  can be generous even a dog.

2) Giving to others is fun and feels good.

Kids can tell therapy animals enjoy their work.

3) Giving your time to someone is a good gift.

A therapy dog is a community volunteer and the time spent in each visit is a special  gift to each person.

4) Little things can be a great gift to people-like  a therapy dog handshake  and a smile.

5) You can give back to others to show you are grateful for what you have, to say thanks.

Many therapy animals are rescued animals who give back in a new life of service.

6) Volunteering  is even better with a friend.

It’s fun to have a good partner when you are helping others. Therapy dogs always work with a human partner.

7)You don’t always need words to say “thank you.”

Body language works too. Wagging dog tails speak volumes to young listeners.

8) It feels  good when someone listens to you, and asks you what you need.

Dogs are great listeners. They are  good at letting you know when they want to play or if they need to go out for a break. It’s Ok to tell someone what you need.

9) Don’t give up on your goals,even if you are not successful the first time you try.  When we volunteered as a therapy dog team,my therapy dog Junior and I shared  his story of how he had to study to pass his therapy dog test, and didn’t give up when he wasn’t ready to pass the first time we took the test.

10) If you study, focus, and work hard at something you love ,  share what you have learned .

Therapy dogs can send the message, “You can do it.” Ask for and get help if you need it. Encourage others to do so too.  

In our therapy dog visits, children liked to hear how a rescued shelter dog like my golden retriever ,Junior, went from being a homeless shelter dog to bring adopted and his training and hard work to become a therapy dog. He didn’t succeed at first, but asked for help and kept trying until he succeeded. He went on to  be a dog mentor to help other dogs and humans  learn how to be a therapy dog team.

Encouraging children and all of us to be generous and serve others can create a healthier community for all of us. Describing generous behavior means providing real examples that make sense to children and inspire adults. Generosity has many faces.

Sometimes generosity has four legs and a tail .