Your dog can probably roll over on request, but can it surf and detect the triggers of adverse reaction from a patient? If not then Ricochet, a therapy and golden retriever dog will interest you.
Ricochet is the star of Puppy Prodigies, a non-profit organization that trains emotional support, therapy and service dogs in San Diego. Its talents include treating patients while surfing.
Judy Fridono, the founder of Puppy Prodigies, says, he initially trained Ricochet to be a service dog. She then noticed Ricochet was more interested in cashing birds, and she is disco
vered she balanced well on the surfing board. She started participating in surfing contests and surfing with patients.
Ricochet became a” SURFice dog” after she was surfing alongside a quadriplegic patient one day. Using pure instinct, she hopped off her surfboard onto the patient’s surfboard.
When Fridono saw how excited she was from wave to wave, she realized her purpose. She adds that Ricochet surfs and treat veteran regularly, those with PTSD symptoms such as hypervigilance, that is hard to turn off after serving in the war. Ricochet can sense triggers of a patient’s anxiety and uses simple eye contact to calm their nerves.