What We Do

Animal Assisted Activities (AAA)
Animal Assisted Activities are educational, entertaining, and motivating activities delivered by specially trained and certified volunteers and their animals who have met specific criteria to be designated as registered Delta Society© Pet Partner© teams.

Therapy Pets of the Red River Valley members are registered Delta Society Pet Partners. The Delta Society's Pet Partners program prepares volunteer handlers and their animals to visit and interact with clients in a variety of settings. Animal assisted activities generally refers to the ‘meet and greet' visiting in which a registered Delta Society Pet Partners team visits patients in hospitals or other institutions, providing patients with the opportunity to socialize with a friendly animal.

Typical Animal Assisted Activities may be visits to schools, one-to-one visits with patients and residents in healthcare facilities, or entertaining "shows". Animal Assisted Activities are not necessarily "goal driven", but are significantly therapeutic in nature.


Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
Animal assisted therapy is the deliberate and systematic employment of animals in a professional care plan, with defined treatment goals.

Some people who can benefit from canine assisted activities and therapy include nursing home residents, prison inmates, hospice clients and their families, special education students, autistic individuals, and both acute care and rehabilitation hospital patients.

Animal assisted therapy has been used as a treatment modality in numerous disciplines including social work, counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, recreation therapy, education and nursing.

Animal Assisted Therapy is goal-directed intervention in which a therapy animal is an integral part of the clinical treatment process. AAT is directed by healthcare or human services professionals, such as Occupational/Physical/Speech Therapists, Counselors, Psychologists, Social Workers, and other healthcare or human services professionals.

AAT is provided in group sessions, one-to-one visits, or co-therapy sessions. AAT visit outcomes are documented by the healthcare or human services professional. AAT providers may work under the direction of healthcare or human services providers, or directly with therapists in client sessions.