About Our Volunteer Canine Program
Rady Children’s Hospital’s Volunteer Canine Program spreads smiles and joy to children spending time in the hospital and helps reduce the stress of childhood illness and hospitalization.
Through short visits to patient rooms by friendly, calm dogs and their volunteer handlers, young patients can pet, hug, and spend time with furry four-legged friends as a part of their healing journey. The program brings comfort and hope to children and their families, including a sense of home for those missing their own pet dogs.
Rady Children’s Hospital has canine volunteers of all sizes and a variety of breeds as part of this program. Each dog is escorted through the hospital by its handler/owner along with a volunteer escort. Social visits usually last about five minutes and take place with the consent of the patient, parent/guardian, and medical staff.
Along with decreasing stress, these visits:
- Provide warmth, comfort, and a sense of familiarity
- Offer “normal life” experiences
- Provide a distraction from pain, medical treatments, and daily hospital routines
- Encourage interaction and communication
- Bring laughter and smiles
Due to the overwhelming interest in our program and the very low attrition rate, we are not accepting applications at this time.
In the News
- Dog Helps Children with Their COVID Vaccine, fox5sandiego.com
- Health Care is Going to the Dogs—and That’s a Very Good Thing, Los Angeles Times, features Volunteer Services Manager Sylvie Sneep.