Link II is the first Accredited Facility Dog to report for duty at the Chinook Sexual Assault Centre to provide enhanced care to its clients.
The new four-legged team member will help provide emotional support and a sense of security for clients accessing the centre’s services. He will primarily work at the Chinook Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, as part of a team helping children, youth and families deal with the traumatic effects of abuse.
Baylee Schmidt is a supervisor at the Child and Youth Advocacy Centre and has received special training as Link II’s handler.
Link II comes to the Centre from PADS or the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society, a society which breeds and trains fully Accredited Facility Dogs.
Schmidt notes the Centre applied to PADS for a facility dog more than three years ago and only learned this February a dog was available.
“We’re excited Link was placed with us to help provide emotional support to children and their family and caregivers, as they move through the judicial system,” notes Schmidt.
According to Schmidt, Link arrived at the Centre at the beginning of last week. “He and I did some pretty extensive training together with two PADS trainers. He’s settling into his role quite nicely.”
“We’re hoping to slowly integrate Link into the work we do, so he gets acclimatized to the different parts of the job. We’re very excited to have him start meeting with different families that come to our Centre,” Schmidt adds.
Across the province, Schmidt says, different child and advocacy group centres have facility dog programs that help provide an extra layer of support to children while they undergo police interviews, attend court and therapy sessions.
“Being able to witness the work facility dogs are doing at other child advocacy centres in the province really showed us there’s a great need to have the same sort of program at our space,” Schmidt explains.
Having Link in Lethbridge, Schmidt says, adds warmth to a space where there might be some very difficult things that happen or get talked about.
