Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) is an approach to interventions where animals are used to provide motivational, recreational, therapeutic, and/or enhance educational benefits with people in a variety of environments. The presence of specified treatment goals or objectives is not required in AAA. Additionally, AAA does not require implementation by trained personnel or an animal registered in Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) and session content can be spontaneous.

Current research reports that companionship, stress, emotions, anxiety, communication, sequencing, reading, attention, social skills, activities of daily living, functional use of upper body, fine motor, sensory processing, mental health, and physical fitness are just some of the skills supported by at AAA.

Here at Developmental Therapy Services of Sacramento we provide AAA in our therapeutic sessions.

Our new dog Lindy

Lindy is a 1-year-old (born January 2022) cocker spaniel and she belongs to Occupational Therapist, Catherine Cooper. Lindy has gone through the training and testing required to obtain her American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen certificate. The Canine Good Citizen is a 10-skill test that teaches good manners to dogs and responsible dog ownership to their owners.

Lindy loves people and participating in therapy sessions; especially when she gets to earn treats! Lindy passed her test with high remarks and is actively engaging in sessions with select clients. But she is still young and requires ongoing training. As Lindy matures and continues in her training, she will become available to a wider selection of the clients at DTS of Sac.

If you see her at the office don’t be afraid to say hi! Just remember to go slow and keep your
body calm!