PAWS

Corgi Sally giving family new lease of life

PAWS — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:33:52 +0000

Sally the Corgi is making a big difference to Nick who has Aspergers following Mum Tessa attending our PAWS worskshops in Leeds.

Hear Nick and Mum Tessa speaking to ITV Yorkshire

You can also read about their story in the Huffington Post

We still have spaces available at our next sets of workshops taking place in Banbury and Darlington – find out more

Only 15 more families needed – can you help?

corri@pawsresearch — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:11:43 +0000

We’ve had a great response from families offering help with our study looking into how dogs can change their day to day lives. We only need 15 more families to complete our study. If you do not yet have a dog, but are considering getting one within the year, please get in touch to help as you can help make this study success!

How are things going?

AmyD@paws — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:57:29 +0000

We are pleased to say we have two new venues available for 2012, we will now be holding workshops in Milton Keynes and Ballymena, Northern Ireland. We have just confirmed dates for our new series of Bristol, Canterbury and Bridgend workshops. Next month we are also looking forward to visiting Harlow for the first time. Remember to watch this space for future workshops coming soon to somewhere near you.

Please contact us for more information or Click here to sign up.

For those of you that we have already met, don’t forget to make full use of our member’s forum, please drop us a line on there as we would love to hear how you all are getting on, we hear such great stories when we see you on the work shops, we don’t want to be missing out! Also new resources are being added all the time, including a new hand out on adopting a rescue dog and some useful links for children’s resources.

We look forward to hearing from you.

We’ve had 98 parents take part in our research study, and need 22 more without pet dogs. Can you help?

corri@pawsresearch — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:01:46 +0000

If so, you could make all the difference! We are currently looking for parents of children between the ages of 3 to 16yrs with autism. Taking part involves sparing half an hour of time to talk to us over the phone on three separate occasions. For more information, visit our research pages, or contact Kate Thomas, PAWS Project & Research Administrator kate.thomas@dogsforthedisabled.org. Tel: 01295 759836.

Are dogs being bred to make the best pets?

corri@pawsresearch — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:39:38 +0000

Radio 4’s You & Yours featured a programme on whether dogs are being bred to make good pets, featuring Dr John Bradshaw, a specialist in canine behaviour. For centuries dogs were bred to work. Recently working breeds have been bred for the show ring. Many of us want them to be good companions rather than hard workers or show dogs. So how do you choose the right dog for your family? To listen again, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cw7kq and scroll down to select chapter 6.

So what are the workshops about?

AmyD@paws — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:50:23 +0000

Our workshops are all about discussing all aspects of pet dog ownership and the possible positive influence this has with children with autism. Over a series of three workshops we cover considerations when choosing and owning a dog, their care, behaviour and training, hopefully breaking down all the information into manageable bite size chunks. Click here to sign up

We rely on parents feeding back ideas to us and each other, to help parents achieve individual goals, especially as each dog and child are different. We discuss ways that the dogs may be able to help develop speech, motor skills or act as an intervention, but this relies on having a relaxed confident dog which we explain how to accomplish. Then there are our PAWS activity dogs who are there to give you practical hands on training with them as well as to have fun. Through attending the workshops you have us and other parents there for support.

PAWS workshops in Oxfordshire!

katie@paws — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:57:18 +0000

Spaces available for parents of children with autism. Click here to sign up, or simply pass on these details to anyone who may benefit.

Brain scan research shows pet dogs can reduce stress

corri@pawsresearch — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:37:14 +0000

A recent study by a Japanese research group looked at the effects of pet dogs on brain activity in a group of 14 dog-owning volunteers. The volunteers underwent brain positron emission tomography (PET) scans while their own pet dogs were absent and again when they were present. Results showed that the brain regions associated with stress perception and arousal were deactivated when the owner’s pet dog was in the room. This study reveals the some of the brain mechanisms underlying the psychological and physiological well-being associated with dogs. More information can be found here.

BBC Warwickshire Radio Interview

katie@paws — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:41:35 +0000

Hear about Karen Davies’ experiences of the PAWS workshops. Click here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00mljts and move the cursor to start listening to the interview from 2:6:25

PAWS aftercare

katie@paws — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:34:16 +0000

With almost 200 families already benefitting from the PAWS workshops, we are pleased to now be able to offer a unique PAWS aftercare service!

Being fully aware that parents may need refresher courses as well as long-term problem solving help, we have always been keen to develop a strong support network for as long as we are needed!

So we are now proud to announce that our members do not just receive unlimited access to the team via the Members area of our website, but we can also offer regular, nationwide aftercare workshops!

For more information, always feel free to ask the team.