This might sound a bit far-fetched, but the more I thought about it, the cooler the idea became.
My local pound has problems finding animals adopted, and they put down too many each year. I'm good with animals and have volunteered there occasionally. I'm planning on going to med school to be an MD, and even though I already volunteer at a hospital, you can never do too much.
I was thinking today, and put all this together into one big idea: start a group of therapy dogs for my community.
I know a fair amount of people who would assist me both financially and with the actual work. I'm good with animals and I feel that I have both the time and talent to train a good amount of dogs. Y'all's job is to find solutions to the problems/questions below and alert me of potential problems I missed that could arise. Please?
Would my age be a problem? I'm 14 (almost 15) and a freshman in high school. I do have access to 24/7 adult supervision if needed.
Do I need any type of formal training/permit to start this non-profit volunteer organization since I'm working with live animals(dogs)? If so, how could I get it?
Is it possible that my local pound would let me "borrow" the dogs? I don't have any place to house them, so they would have to stay at the pound, but do you think they would let me train the dogs and take them to nursing homes and hospitals when I need to? I can provide some food and water, etc, if I had to.
Also, any tips from people that have done anything like this before would be welcome.
Thanks!
My local pound has problems finding animals adopted, and they put down too many each year. I'm good with animals and have volunteered there occasionally. I'm planning on going to med school to be an MD, and even though I already volunteer at a hospital, you can never do too much.
I was thinking today, and put all this together into one big idea: start a group of therapy dogs for my community.
I know a fair amount of people who would assist me both financially and with the actual work. I'm good with animals and I feel that I have both the time and talent to train a good amount of dogs. Y'all's job is to find solutions to the problems/questions below and alert me of potential problems I missed that could arise. Please?
Would my age be a problem? I'm 14 (almost 15) and a freshman in high school. I do have access to 24/7 adult supervision if needed.
Do I need any type of formal training/permit to start this non-profit volunteer organization since I'm working with live animals(dogs)? If so, how could I get it?
Is it possible that my local pound would let me "borrow" the dogs? I don't have any place to house them, so they would have to stay at the pound, but do you think they would let me train the dogs and take them to nursing homes and hospitals when I need to? I can provide some food and water, etc, if I had to.
Also, any tips from people that have done anything like this before would be welcome.
Thanks!
go to deltasociety.org and that is the organization i go through with three of my five dogs