Animal Assisted Therapy | HumaneK9 Dog Training Fort Lauderdale

Our Vision

We advocate for mental health awareness and support our community through loving, healing connections with therapy animals. We embrace diversity, equality, and inclusion in everything we do. We are all interconnected.

With the experience, knowledge and conviction I’ve nurtured over the past two decades and inspired by my dog Karma, the Magical Canine Connections Animal Assisted Therapy Program was developed. It is a living tribute to her unconditional love of people and children, serving as a role model for therapy dogs everywhere.

Animals unconditionally bestow gifts upon us – like Sydney, my Sheltie, who taught me about trust and courage and Karma, my Mini Australian Shepherd, whose rockstar personality exuded resilience, strength and support at every turn. So, my goal with MCC is to help my clients foster their animals’ traits and talents, to strengthen their human-animal bond and then empower them to go out and positively impact our community. My hope is that through this program we are one of the entities that support a diverse, all-inclusive platform for our community to get that comfort, joy, connection and laughter with our volunteer teams. It’s about building and sustaining an invaluable relationship with your animal and then sharing that connection with other people.

Sydney’s Storytime Readers

Sydney was afraid of many things when I first adopted her. Then through positive reinforcement, training, support and love I watched her evolve into a brave and remarkably courageous animal. This reading program is designed for children with reading difficulties, those who lack confidence or self-esteem who need that extra bit of support and encouragement. Regardless of why a child is not at the reading level they should be, our therapy animals are trained to be judgment-free companions that empower the children to practice reading out loud without fear or intimidation.

Sydney’s Storytime Readers program has partnered with Broward County Libraries, Broward County Public Schools and Private Schools to help children improve their literacy in a fun, interactive and stress-free environment while also enhancing their self-esteem and enriching their educational journey.

AAT Programs

Animal assisted therapy programs are integral to recovery because animals immediately deinstitutionalize a medical facility and create a comfortable environment where patients who are sad, lonely, disconnected or in pain can interact with the animals and feel a sense of normalcy. Instead of focusing on their treatments, medications or stress, the attention is now on the animals and the all-encompassing joy and comfort they radiate. However, animals don’t only provide respite for patients. Medical staff receive stress relief and a break from their demanding first responder routine when the animals visit. MCC teams don’t just visit medical facilities – fire and police stations, schools, libraries, camps, senior centers, rehabilitation centers, wellness centers, corporations and small businesses interested in offering stress relief to employees are also on our list of approved sites. Petting has been shown to lower blood pressure, regulate heart rates, lower stress and release endorphins that calm the nervous system so animals can help in a variety of communities.

While dogs usually take centerstage in these programs, MCC is proud to welcome a diverse roster of animals including bunnies, roosters, snakes, birds, mini horses, ferrets and alpacas. Contrary to service animals that provide specific tasks for people with disabilities, therapy work requires a well-trained animal that can provide comfort and joy. Therefore a lot of animals can be great candidates for therapy work, it really depends on their personality and temperament.

Our volunteer teams and a variety of pets are ready to provide comfort, smiles, unconditional and non-judgmental love to our community. Our program has partnered with many First Response Agencies in Broward and Palm Beach County. When people are struggling to figure out how to help, especially in a crisis like a school shooting or a pandemic, being an animal assisted therapy team who can bring joy and happiness into a seemingly hopeless situation can be profound.