Canine Therapy at Calo

Calo’s state-of-the-art canine program is an integral part of our student’s experience. Our teenagers, have the opportunity to parent, foster and/or adopt a canine. Through this deep relationship with a golden retriever our students experience trust and empathy while learning how to bond with and care for someone external to themselves. As the student’s emotional life enriches we help students transfer this experience to caregivers and parents. We call this Transferable Attachment. The very core lesson that countless conversations and traditional talk therapy never taught a student over the years is finally discovered experientially as a student is vulnerable to a loving, safe animal – “If my parents love me more than I love my canine, I do feel safe. I really can trust that they won’t leave me, hurt me or intentionally do harm.”
Students are automatically enrolled in the Canine Therapy Program upon admission to Calo. All students interested in fostering and/or adopting a Calo canine will complete sequential requirements leading up to fostering and/or adopting a Calo canine. This process is similar in many ways to the human foster/adoption experience and closely resembles the family services model many of our parents and/or students have experienced.

Learn more about Calo at http://caloteens.com