An admiring round of ‘oooh’s’ sounds from around a circle of humans at the BC SPCA in Victoria, even before Rambo ambles in.
Hailing from Salt Spring Island with one brown eye, one blue and fresh off his breakfast, Rambo takes his time snuffling around the outstretched hands – all holding handmade, healthy treats.
The circle is made up of people with dementia diagnoses, and their loved ones, who are also often their caregivers, in a first partnership between Memory Cafe Victoria and the local SPCA.
Memory Cafe is a social gathering where care partners can relax, unwind, and have fun with their family member with memory loss. It’s all about making social connections and joyful engagement in activities that focus on creativity. The programs perpetuate the message that people living with dementia are a vital part of the community, and deserve opportunities to engage and connect as they always have, said facilitator Gwendolyn deGeest.
The dog treat activity was recommended to deGeest by a colleague.
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While participants may live in a place, or time in their lives, where dogs are not an option, the creation of dog treats inspires reminiscence of pups past, deGeest said. They’re good memories. Also, these are folks who may be missing a sense of purpose in life. Making dog biscuits highlights a way those facing dementia continue to contribute to the community. While the tangible product is enough, it’s even better to hand them out to grateful dogs.
After visits with a couple more pooches, the group reminisces about dogs in their past, and for some, their workaround to have dogs in their lives now.
One man volunteered for a bit with ElderDog – a non-profit where volunteers help folks who can’t get out with their animals – where he could walk a dog and then take it home for a couple of hours to visit. Looking to make more solid connections, he took to social media in search of a companion pup to visit. It had 1,900 hits in short order.
Now three dogs visit four times a week, and one visits twice a week.
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The local groups, from Amica, James Bay New Horizons and Monterey Rec Centre, introduced SparkySnacks, founded by Rita Findlay. SparkySnacks was born out of love for Findlay’s cocker spaniel, Sparky. He was a tough dog who battled cancer, and the snacks came about from the desire to give him nutritious food and drool-worthy treats.
Findlay came to each group setting with ready-to-mould dough and her own dogs, Finley and Lily, in tow.
Folks made the treats, and Findlay took them home to bake.
The group reconvened in a glorious meeting to feed the treats to the dogs in care.
“It just all came to be, and what a wonderful way to connect with the community,” deGeest said. “We love dogs, we love being connected, and it’s a way we thought we could connect with Paul (Tartaglio assistant manager) here at the animal shelter and give something back and connect with community.”
Learn more about Victoria-area dementia programs at memoryconnections.org.
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