Welcome WaggersIf you'd like to learn more about our history and current activities, just read on!
WELCOME
WAGGERS HISTORY
During one of her obedience classes in the fall of 1991, Dana Stillinger, owner/instructor of the Best Friends Obedience and Agility School in Corvallis, asked her students if any of them would be interested in forming a group of therapy dog teams. A number of them met for an introductory meeting at the Albany home of Barbara Riley who had been attending classes and competing in obedience trials with her Italian Greyhound and her Sheltie. It was decided to proceed with the testing process of the dogs and handlers by Dana, who was a Tester/Observer (T/O) for the national therapy dog registry Therapy Dogs Incorporated (now ATD) that had recently become an independent organization after spinning off from another national therapy dog group. There were about twelve prospective handlers and their dogs who were initially tested by Dana at the small animal building of the Benton County Fairgrounds. Nine of those teams passed the test and became registered members of Therapy Dogs Incorporated. The group’s first visit was made in January, 1992, at the Camlu Retirement Apartments in Albany, Oregon, and this became a regular monthly visit. Welcome Waggers received its name shortly after that at the suggestion of one of the members.
