%20(2).png)
Goats are truly amazing lil creatures that love to interact with people. Of course like any mom, I think my goats are the BEST!!! Please visit our Goat Therapy Page to learn more about our visits to retirement communities :)
You can come visit us now too!!! We have a gorgeous 12 acre country property just minutes west of Katy! Contact Dena Blue denalblue22@icloud.com to schedule a visit for your seniors! You can make it a family event and send a link to family members so they can purchase tickets and visit the farm at the same time!
Goats are very loving, gentle animals which makes them ideal therapy animals :)
I am not a Doctor but I can speak from experience. My goats have changed my life for the better and I love sharing them with others. Beside begin super cute and cuddly they are also very smart and intuitive. They seem to observe who needs a little extra love each time we are in a group or a class.
I recently read the article below from Hoegger Farm Yard in East Texas and I thought it was worth sharing here :)
Using Goats in a Therapy Program
I love my goats. They always make me smile. I am a registered nurse and sometimes my days can be a little stressful. One little therapy doeling really brightens my days. Her name is Baby. Baby is a Fainting goat. Every time I look at her she brings a smile to my face. This got me to thinking: I could get the best of both worlds by starting a therapy program using my goats.
So what is a therapy goat? A therapy goat is like any other therapy animal. A therapy animal is an animal trained to provide affection and comfort to people. They are often used in hospitals, assisted living homes, nursing homes, schools, rehabilitation centers, hospices and others areas to help improve their well-being. Therapy animals are NOT required to be certified.
Research indicates that interaction with therapy animals can temporarily affect the release of various neurotransmitters in the brain; levels of oxytocin (linked with bonding) and dopamine (involved in the reward-motivation system) are increased, while cortisol levels (an immunosuppressant associated with stress) are decreased. All of which are very beneficial to the patients. If Baby makes me smile I figured she could make others smile too!
A Therapy animal is different than a service animal. Service animals perform tasks for people with disabilities and have a legal right to accompany their owners into almost any area they need to go. In the United States, service animals are legally protected at the federal level by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Therapy animals are not trained to assist specific individuals and do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Just about any breed of goat can be trained as a therapy goat. I raise Fainting Goats at my farm in East Texas. We call our farm “Playful Acres”. They are all registered with the American Fainting Goat Organization, who strongly believes the Fainting goat breed is a multi-purpose breed. Therapy goats need to be friendly and enjoy human contact. They should be well behaved in public. For a goat to be used as a therapy animal it is best to use either polled or disbudded goats. You must be careful with horned goats. Also, wethers and does make the best therapy goats, because you don’t have to worry about their smell during rut like you would with the bucks.
By: Debbie Cassidy
See Debbie’s new book: The Past, Present and Future of the Fainting Goat
See for article here.
