Rowan's Therapy Dog Symposium Goes Virtual For 2020
GLASSBORO, NJ — Rowan University’s National Dog Show Therapy Dog Symposium debut in 2019 drew 130 people to the university in November 2019. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the show is going virtual this year.
A diverse group of expert presenters will share information with therapy dog practitioners, advocates and aspirants from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 17, the university announced.
The event is open to the public and participants can register for $20 per person at go.rowan.edu/NDSTherapyDogSymposium2020.
“With the concerns of COVID-19, the second National Dog Show Therapy Dog Symposium made the logical decision to transform to a virtual event for 2020,” said David Frei, the symposium co-founder and 2019 keynote speaker. “The exciting upside is that we can now engage a national audience via technology.”
Frei, an internationally known canine expert and a member of the Kennel Club of Philadelphia, is a longtime leader in the therapy dog movement. For 27 years he was the face and voice of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on the USA Network and founded the therapy dog nonprofit Angel On A Leash.
He introduced therapy dog visitation to multiple major New York City healthcare facilities, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Frei also developed and co-hosts the Beverly Hills Dog Show in April on NBC.
He organized the symposium along with Michele Pich, assistant director of The Shreiber Family Pet Therapy Program at Rowan and an adjunct professor and research associate at the University.
Pich, a member of the National Dog Show Therapy Dog Ambassador Team since 2012 with her Staffordshire terrier mix, Vivian Peyton, runs the Shreiber Family Pet Therapy Program at Rowan University, where they bring the joy of therapy animal visits to students and community members.
Pich previously worked at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as veterinary grief counselor and taught a course in the human-animal bond. She is the former co-director of the VetPets Animal Assisted Activities at Penn Vet and held advisory roles with the therapy dog program at the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House and the Philadelphia animal-assisted prisoner re-entry nonprofit, New Leash on Life-USA.
They are both certified presenters for Continuing Education credits via the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE) and the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB). Veterinary industry employees can get Continuing Education credits for attending the symposium.
The virtual event is scheduled in conjunction with the annual Kennel Club of Philadelphia’s (KCP) National Dog Show Nov. 15-16 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pa.
The symposium is held in tandem with the launch of The Shreiber Family Pet Therapy Program, which was funded in 2019 through a $3 million gift from Gerry Shreiber, president and CEO of J&J Snack Foods of Pennsauken.
Anyone interested in sponsoring the symposium should contact Steve Griffith of National Dog Show Charities at sgriffth@viziongroup.net.
This article originally appeared on the Gloucester Township Patch
