When planning a session with a therapy dog, don't overlook the value of the variety of different dog toys. You can facilitate goal attainment with your client simply by choosing the right dog toy for them to use during an interaction.
When I go shopping for dog toys for therapy sessions, I not only consider the dog's interest, but I also consider how the toy can work toward client goals. As an occupational therapist, I am looking for toys that will facilitate hand and finger strengthening, fine motor dexterity, visual motor coordination, sensory processing, self care skills, and more. The wonderful thing about AAT is that one toy or game with a dog can tap into so many areas of functional performance without the client's knowledge, in a fun and motivating way. For many of our clients, they think they are just playing a game with a dog. However, from my professional perspective, I am watching the client increase their range of motion, improve their grasp pattern, reduce their overall muscle tone, and challenge their balance (simply by throwing a toy for a dog to catch/retrieve).
As you can see in the background of this photo, Chief has a large toy collection already. Each toy has been selected for a specific reason. The toy he is playing with is a bone with removable rings that he can pull off. The reason I selected this toy was based on child development. We've all seen the ring stacker toys that toddlers use to learn visual motor coordination. This is a version of that toy. I envision this toy being used in the following fashion. The child (or dog) removes the rings and throws for the dog to retrieve. The child then places them back on the bone. It can also be used by older children for throwing accuracy, color recognition, to improve grasp (holding onto the ring), etc. This one toy has multiple purposes.
I've also selected different colored tennis balls or soft toys so that we can work on color discrimination. The child will be instructed to choose and throw a specific colored toy for Chief to retrieve. Other squeaky toys have different levels of resistance. Some are very easy to squeeze while others are made of more durable rubber and are therefore, more difficult to squeeze. The difference in resistance can be used to facilitate hand strengthening by having the child squeeze the toy to "catch" the dog's attention. Some of the soft toys have different textures on them, making them more useful for children who have difficulties with different textures. If soft and tickly textures are bothersome to this child, we can use toys that have these textures on them to encourage the child to work through this sensory issue in order to engage in activity with the dog.
As you can see, when you choose toys for your therapy session, so much goes into the decision making process. Although it may seem that Chief is very spoiled (which he is...LOL), each toy has been selected for a purpose. At Jumpstart Therapies, no aspect of the therapeutic process is overlooked, even down to the tennis balls!! :)
Tammy
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