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Welcome Waggers is a local  volunteer therapy dog group that has been serving Corvallis  and the surrounding areas of Oregon since 1991. We are all registered members of the national organisation, the Alliance of Therapy Dogs (ATD), formerly Therapy Dogs Incorporated®.

If you'd like to learn more about our history and current activities, just read on!

WELCOME WAGGERS HISTORY

 Beginnings:

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. 

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About this Site

To find out more about  therapy dogs, our organisation, and to learn what is involved in becoming a therapy dog team or joining the READ®  program, please click the links at the top of this page.  If you would like more information there  are email addresses on the 'Contact us' page.

Related Links

  • About the Alliance of Therapy Dogs (ATD)
  • About the READ® Program 
  • About Hospital Volunteering
  • Contact us
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