Meet Buddy and Frankie, the cute 16-week-old Golden-doodle puppies starting their dream new jobs at Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge mental health support charity In Charley’s Memory this week.
Though it’s early days for the new members, the puppies’ wild and adventurous personalities are shining through with cheeky behaviours of barking and chewing.
Though brother and sister, they are very different in character. Charity staff already see that Frankie is the boss – of everyone – with a lively personality, while Buddy is currently currently very shy, is a keen gardener, and loves a hosepipe cooling him down.
In Charley’s Memory is based in Highbridge and helps thousands of young people across Somerset and beyond with mental health.
The charity says it had only planned to buy one puppy, but when the owner heard about the work of charity, she donated a second one.
In Charley’s Memory CEO Dawn says: “It’s early days but with the right training they will be a wonderful asset to the charity.”
“We are so thrilled to have them. This is going to take our service to a new level in so many ways. Dogs are miracle workers in bringing therapy to people.”
“Jeffrey, the King Charles Spaniel mascot of ICM, started off the trend at the charity, and now we have two working dogs to be on the ground every day.”
“The world of counselling has seen an increased popularity in the usage of therapy dogs, which is proven to have hugely positive effects.”
In Charley’s Memory has seen demand for their services go up by 1000% since it was set up in 2018 following the death of Burnham teenager Charley Marks aged 18. Now they are motivated to ensure there are ‘No more Charleys’.
They are helping young people across Somerset and beyond as the nation’s mental health gets worse and worse. They will never turn any children away – no matter where they come from. Dogs will be the latest tool to help people with their mental health problems.
Though the use of therapy animals has increased in popularity over recent years due to awareness being raised towards the benefit of counselling, the introduction of therapy animals was an accidental interaction within the 1960’s under the service of Dr Boris M. Levinson.
Levinson was a specialised child psychologist, who was working with a young patient that was non-verbal and withdrawn within sessions. However, the unintentional interaction between the client and Levison’s dog, Jingles, led to the withdrawn client interacting and talking to the dog.
The unintentional interaction led to Levinson using dogs within sessions. In 1964, Levinson adopted the term ‘Pet Therapy’. Further research was taken post Levinson’s death upon his realisation of the possible benefits of using therapy animals.
Story compiled by Mollie and Emma from King Alfred School Academy’s Jill Dando News Team as part of their work experience
