Hippotherapy

After doing the dog-assisted therapy for 3 years, in 2013 we visited Warsaw, to meet up with respective NGOs and discuss the possibilities for Armenian street dogs to become professional therapists, recognized by our colleagues in European Union. We collectively decided to conduct an experiment, and within one more year we held a seminar, presenting the results of our field study to our colleagues, who visited our center.

It was thought that mixed-breeds are not suitable for therapy, and only conservative approach to AAT couldn’t be considered reliable, which meant only purebred dogs like labradors had been used in therapy. The conclusive result was that the therapy masters, having observed how Centaur rescues interacted with people on therapy ground, agreed that they outperformed their class by a great deal, which was previously simply unimaginable.

AAT is hard labour that needs strong, faithful and dedicated people. And also lots of love: without it, dogs will never be able to give patients that very special kind of warmth that they need.