Kyria debuts NEWEST paws4people Program on UNCW Campus!
Kyria Henry Founder paws4people
After a great deal of planning and preparation, August 24 saw the first class session of the UNCW/paws4people foundation Assistance Dog Training Program. The inaugural class consists of 24 University of North Carolina Wilmington undergraduate students with majors ranging from Recreation Therapy to Psychology to Accounting. This multifaceted group was just what paws4people had hoped for in order to introduce the world of Assistance Dogs and the people they serve to a group of future professionals in a wide array of disciplines.
This class is the first of a planned four-course progression teaching students about the types of Assistance Dogs serving today’s society, the history of Assistance Dogs, legislation governing their training and utilization, the types of disabilities Assistance Dogs are trained to mitigate, training theory and practice, dog psychology and body language, and most importantly hands- on practice in utilizing Assistance Dogs in many different environments and disciplines. Students who choose to complete all four courses of the Assistance Dog Certificate Program will be eligible to receive a paws4people foundation Assistance Dog custom-trained to utilize in their respective careers, such as education, social work, recreation therapy, gerontology, and UNCW’s many
other service-oriented degree programs.
This program, the first and only comprehensive one of its kind in the country, will empower students to add a unique and marketable skill set to their education. Even more exciting, they will become life-long advocates for Assistance Dogs and for people with disabilities. paws4people is proud and excited to be a part of pioneering this invaluable, synergistic new program, within the School of Health and Applied Human Sciences.
For more information concerning this Certificate Program please download this file:
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Please Comment!
Danielle McPhail
I am so excited to have been able to be apart of this class from the very beginning. It couldn’t have come at a better time either because I will be taking the 4th part of the course my very last semester at UNCW. I am a Psychology major and just after one semester I have been able to further my learning about a wide range of disabilities and even better I now know all about which types of service dogs can help with them. Thanks p4p for taking a chance at UNCW!
Casie O'Rourke
I have learned so much from this class about the ability and skills of assistance dogs. Not only is this class unique because it is the only one like it in the country, but a major portion of the class is listening to and meeting actual clients of paws4people. This makes more of an impact than any lecture or powerpoint ever could. The class is able to learn about the technicalities of each type of assistance dog, while also being able to witness the effectiveness of the dog in person. I have learned assistance dogs can truly turn an individual’s life around and help him/her live and independent life.
Kristina Nash
It was truly a pleasure to have been able to be apart of this class! I have learned so much about assistance and service dogs! I knew dogs were smart from the get-go, but I did not think that they would have that much of a great impact in someone’s life until I took this class! Unrfortunately, I won’t be able to take the 4th portion of the class and therefore, I decided not to take the 2nd portion of the class. Nonetheless, I have learned so much from the lectures, our guest speakers, and from Kyria as well. Thank you so much paws4people for being Dog Assistance to UNCW! It could have been any other school, but you chose this one and we are very grateful!
David Riley
I am so glad I heard about this class. I got very lucky being that im not a rec therapy major to hear about it and that is becuase im an accounting major and Dr. I who is a accounting professor, who had a big part of bringing this to UNCW so there were plenty of fliers around the business school. I had no idea what I was getting into but im so glad I took the chance it has become my favorite class I have taken at UNCW, even with the papers we had to write. Kyria is a great teacher.
Austin Thompson
This class was great! I learned so much about assistance dogs that I had no idea about before, and hopefully I will be able to use my knowledge in my future career as a Recreation Therapist. I was a little uncertain about the class at first, but I quickly realized that I was in the right place. Kyria did a great job at teaching us about everything involved with assistance dogs and is a very admirable person.