Welcome Waggers History (continued)
Tester/Observers
Tester/Observers play an important
role in
Welcome Waggers
to ensure that new teams satisfy ATD standards for handling skills and
therapy dog behavior. Early on, Barbara
Riley applied to TDINC (now ATD) to become a Tester/Observer, and
continued as such until
she moved from the area in 1995. Lynn
Franklin later joined the group with her Standard Poodle Charlie, and
she, too,
became a T/O, continuing in that capacity until she moved to North
Carolina
after several years. Julie Flanery, Bob
and Ellen Ethington, and Wendy McCoy followed with their membership,
and later became
T/Os. As Welcome Waggers continued to
increase its membership Carol Challis became a T/O. Other Welcome
Wagger
members who qualified as T/Os are Joel Hackett( 2004), Jennifer
Gervais (2007),
Alice Mills Morrow (2008) and Marcia Solomon.
Marcia previously had been a T/O in West Virginia before moving
to the
Corvallis area.
Recent and Current
Developments:
Having begun by visiting only one
facility on a
scheduled
day, Welcome Waggers now have multiple facility visits scheduled on
several
days each month, including evening visits.
When requested, and teams are available, the group will go to a
facility
for a one-time visit.