Delta Therapy Dogs: welcoming furry friends into the community

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Rebecca Archer 

Welcome to The Remarkables – Grant Thornton’s podcast series dedicated to sharing extraordinary stories of individuals who are making significant contributions to their communities. 

Dogs play vital roles across our community — from herding livestock on farms and detecting threats at airports, to assisting people with disabilities and performing other unique services. Today we’re talking to Debbie Sykes, Partnerships Lead at Delta Therapy dogs – an organisation providing trained volunteers and their carefully assessed therapy dogs who visit health, aged care, education and community settings to positively impact those environments.

In fact, some of the Grant Thornton offices nationally have been lucky enough to welcome a few furry friends from Delta Therapy dogs…

Welcome, Debbie!

Debbie Sykes

Thank you, Rebecca. I'm lovely to be here. Really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.

Rebecca Archer 

To kick off the episode, we’re going to jump straight into a rapid-fire round. I’ll ask you questions at random, where you can respond with whatever comes to mind…

First off, what is the most remarkable advice that you've ever received?

Debbie Sykes 

I think it's don't sweat the small stuff, which sounds really kind of cliche and obvious, but yeah, a few years back, someone gave me that advice when there were some health issues going on in the family and it kind of just reminded me to take a step back and think about what really matters in the world. So, yeah, it's probably that.

Rebecca Archer 

Next question. When you were in school, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Debbie Sykes

I grew up in the UK, so I went to school in the UK and when we did work experience, I did it in a travel agency – Thomas Cook – and I wanted to be involved in travel in some description. At that stage, I wanted to be a travel agent but ended up later in my career working for an airline for 17 years, so did manage to see quite a bit of the world through that opportunity. So, yeah, travel.

Rebecca Archer

Last question – what is your go to coffee order?

Debbie Sykes 

It's a skinny latte, unless I'm feeling pretty decadent, and then I'll go for the skinny mocha with a chocolate on top.

Rebecca Archer 

Both very good choices. Now let's get into the nitty gritty. How did Delta Therapy Dogs start?

Debbie Sykes 

So, Delta Therapy Dogs was founded in 1997 – so we've been going about 27 years or so now, and it was founded with support from the Animal Welfare League of Australia, and a group of people came together, including vets and animal behaviorists to establish what was then known as the Delta Society, and of course now today we're known as Delta Therapy Dogs.

Today we're the biggest provider of animal assisted services in Australia and we're governed by a Board of Directors and also an Executive Advisory Committee, and on that committee is one of only three vet behavioural medicine specialists in Australia, and then of course aside to that – so under the Delta Therapy Dogs banner – we also have the Delta Institute, which is our education arm, so registered training organisation, and through that, we offer a certificate for in animal behaviour and training. That's done by people wanting to be professional dog trainers, but also other people that just want to know more about how to work with dogs and with their own dogs as well. So, we've got the two sides of the organisation.

Rebecca Archer 

Sounds like it's really grown from what it was at the start.

Debbie Sykes

Yeah, absolutely, and it's grown a lot since I started. So, I joined the organisation almost three years ago and I think there were 8 or 9 of us and yeah, we've grown over the last few years. I think there's 17 of us now, so – or 16 or 17. We're just in a recruitment phase at the moment. So yeah, it's exciting.

Rebecca Archer 

Many people have of course spoken about the benefits of animal therapy for positively impacting mental health and wellbeing. What are the benefits that you've seen?

Debbie Sykes 

So many! So, we have a core program is Delta Therapy Dogs, but then we have other programs as well, but I guess what's common across all of those programs is that every single visit brings with it, you know, comfort, companionship and joy. So regardless of, you know, what the goal is of that specific program and perhaps we'll touch on that later, you know, that's one thing that they all have in common, and you know, there's a huge body of evidence behind the human-animal bond, of course, that speaks to the kind of impacts that the visits have on the people that we're visiting.

Rebecca Archer

Debbie, is there a dog, a person or perhaps a story who has really resonated with you the most over the years?

Debbie Sykes

Yeah, there was a story recently shared by one of our Perth coordinators. So, we often get feedback from program partners themselves, the people that have been direct recipients of the visit, or our volunteers as well who come to us to let us know the impact that they've had on a particular day.

And I guess, you know, the things that resonate are when it's really something that's made such a big impact, not just at the time, but, you know, that kind of ripple effect where the visit continues to have an impact, and there was one instance where a volunteer with her therapy dog – who we'll call Nelly – went to their regular placement to a palliative ward in a hospital, and on this particular day that she'd visited, a lady came to find her and said could you please visit Mum with Nelly, which often happens, right?

And so, the volunteer and Nelly went in to visit the family and they sat with Mum and the family were just so appreciative of that visit and that's so special. You know, such a private space but people really want to invite us in and share that moment with them and it means such a lot to them. We have such an impact in those moments I think, it's beautiful. So those are probably the ones that strike me the most. I think it's when something remarkable happens. So, when we might go to visit a resident in an aged care home that has dementia, and we'll visit and then we'll find out from staff or family members after the visit that they said a few words; they hadn't spoken for a long time. But during the visit, perhaps they'd said a few words. It has such a profound impact on them that it has this remarkable effect where something unexpected happens.

Rebecca Archer 

Those are beautiful stories, Debbie. Thank you for sharing them, and I think it just speaks volumes to the power of those visits and also the comfort that these animals can bring to what is, like you said, a very intense, intimate, personal situation, for sure.

Debbie Sykes

Absolutely – yeah.

Rebecca Archer 

Can you walk u through the different programs that Delta Therapy Dogs offers?

Debbie Sykes 

Sure. So, our core program, so when we were founded back in 1997, and I guess, you know, the reason for that was that there was a lot of evidence coming to light about the human-animal bond, and the founders really wanted to make sure there was some rigor behind this work.

So, the core program that came out of that was Delta Therapy Dogs. So that's our visitation program. So, it's a wellbeing program primarily. So, we may go into a hospital, a school, aged care, community settings – basically a whole range of settings where we've got particularly vulnerable members of the community that need that extra support, and what we do is we recruit therapy dog teams and we place them in a facility usually for a fortnightly visit.

So, the same handler with their dog will go and visit that same facility every fortnight and spread these moments of joy and have a really positive impact with that, you know, like we've said, comfort, connection, joy.

We've also got our animal assisted education program, which is called Classroom Canines. So that's where we will visit a school – it could be a primary school or a high school – and we'll go once a week for the duration of each term and partners sign an agreement with us usually for a year at a time, and we'll go in every week during term time, and you know, the benefits of that is it does things like it motivates the children to attend or we might sit and do reading groups with them and you know, it helps to really calm them down and, you know, reduce any anxiety that might be present when they're school and those sort of things.

We also have Paws the Pressure, which is more of a corporate wellbeing program. Support the pressure is where we go into... again, it could be a corporate or government workplace, it could be a hospital, but we're there. Paws the Pressure, we're usually there for staff or students as opposed to beneficiaries. So, we may go into a university at exam time, for example, or we might go into... we had one last week where we're into a corporate workplace because they're going through a period of change, and they can be one off visit or they can be… some organisations might get us in once a quarter or every month for a year. So, that’s Paws the Pressure.

Then we've got a relatively new program that we launched last year, following a really successful pilot program that we did, called Animal Assisted Therapy and that's evolved from our core program, Delta Therapy Dogs, but this is where we work alongside health professionals.

So, at the moment we're specializing in canine assisted psychotherapy. So, what we do is we recruit volunteer therapy dog teams. They go through more kind of assessments and training and different things to work in this particular program and then we partner them with health professionals and together we work either one on one with beneficiaries or in small groups to deliver what, as I said, at the moment we're specialising in canine assisted psychotherapy. So, it's goal oriented and we, you know, together we kind of help patients to achieve their goals through the program, and I guess a big aspect of that is, you know, having the dogs present in that setting really helps to create that sense of safety.

So, if you're going into, you know, psychotherapy treatment, for example, having the dog there can really create that sense of safety where people feel able to open up and engage and of course that then leads to better outcomes. So yeah, those are our four kind of key programs.

Rebecca Archer 

And Debbie, what exactly is the Delta Institute? What can you tell us about that?

Debbie Sykes 

That's our education arm. So, Delta Institute is a registered training organisation, and we deliver a positive reinforcement Certificate IV in Animal Behaviour and Training. So that's for professional dog trainers, but also just those people who want to learn how to work with animals using only positive rewards-based training. So that's the underlying principle there.

Those positive reinforcement methods really help with that relationship piece. And then obviously it's those dogs where, you know, where there's a really strong and trusted relationship where, you know, they do their best work and then, you know, we get the best impacts. And of course, then having that Delta Institute there means that that knowledge and expertise flows through into our program side.

Rebecca Archer 

How exactly do you recruit both the dogs and the volunteers?

Debbie Sykes 

Word of mouth, but obviously we have a lot of people wanting to come and volunteer with their dogs. Honestly, people are so generous with their time because I think the feedback that we get is the volunteers and the dogs get just as much out of the visits as the people that we're serving.

So, people apply to join through our website, they jump online and complete an expression of interest and then from that we do all sorts of interviews and reference checks, vet checks for the dog. The dogs are assessed to make sure they want to work in the program because, you know, one thing at Delta is we're very mindful of the dog's wellbeing. That's really important to us. So, we're all about positive rewards-based training and that's our philosophy.

So, it's really important to us that the dogs want to do the work as well as the handlers wanting to come and do that as well. So, they come to us to apply to work in the program. So, the first step is after that kind of initial administrative onboarding is that the dogs are assessed, and if the dogs pass the assessment, then the volunteer goes through a period of induction, training, etc. and then we look to place them in a suitable facility.

Rebecca Archer 

Is it usually the case that the dogs are owned by the person who's volunteering or not always?

Debbie Sykes 

Yeah, usually. We don't like to use the word owned. So, it's like a handler or a guardian with their dog and that's about the dog having choice, I guess. But yes, usually.

Sometimes we might have a dog come to assessment with mum and dad if you like – so co-handlers – and then they might share a placement. So, they may visit an aged care facility fortnightly, but say, they might only get one RDO off a month because a lot of, a lot of our volunteers work full time. So, then they'll share the placement. A volunteer may visit a placement with a dog that's not their dog; it's actually their friend's dog, but you know, they both have time and so, yeah, not necessarily, but more often than not that's the case.

Rebecca Archer 

In total, how many volunteers do you have?

Debbie Sykes 

About a thousand. So, we have a lot of volunteers because we're national, so around the country. So yeah, lots of volunteers and lots of beautiful dogs.

Rebecca Archer 

And I imagine there's a great variety of breeds in the dogs that are coming in. Is there sort of a breed that you have a preference for or is it really, you know, come as you are?

Debbie Sykes 

Come as you are. Absolutely. Like all shapes and sizes, you know, from Goldies to border Collies to Chihuahuas to Italian Greyhounds to Corgis and of course we've all got our kind of favourite breeds. So, it's like, you know, when assessment days have happened, you know, at the end of an assessment day, if someone's successfully made it through, then we'll take a photo for their ID card, which is the handler sitting there with their dog. So, we often share those beautiful photos. Oh, look at this new dog that's made it onto the team. So yeah, there's some beautiful, beautiful dogs. But yeah, a whole range, it's, it's fantastic.

Rebecca Archer 

So, how would someone who might be interested in volunteering go about that? What's the sort of process for them to get in touch?

Debbie Sykes

So, the best thing would be to go onto our website. So deltatherapydogs.org au and then, there's a section on volunteering and under that section there's an expression of interest form. So, the first step and it's just a five-minute form that gives us some basic information and then from there you'll be contacted by our team to talk about next steps.

Rebecca Archer 

And I would imagine without volunteers really, you know, can't be programs. So that they really do form the backbone of what you're doing, don't they?

Debbie Sykes 

Oh absolutely. With all of our programs we just couldn't do any of it without our volunteers, and it, it really does amaze me. This is remarkable that, you know, I think, particularly as we get older, I think time is our most valuable commodity and people give of it so generously. You know, like I said, lots of our volunteers work full time as well as part time. You know, we have people that are retired as well. But yeah, time's the most precious thing that we. So, the fact that they give of it so freely is pretty amazing.

Rebecca Archer 

And who tends to engage most with Delta Therapy Dogs services? Is it mostly corporates, mostly schools, individuals, or a bit of a mix of all of that?

Debbie Sykes 

I think it's just a mix because we've got the four different programs that are reaching out to different beneficiaries each time. So, we, you know, we, it's a case of if we're approached by an organisation, it's like we'll think about what program might be the best fit for what they're looking for.

So, a hospital might have Delta Therapy Dogs because we're there visiting the patients. They might also have Paws for Pressure because we're there, you know, in emergency so that staff can get a therapy dog visit to help them with the stress of the day. So yeah, it's a real broad spectrum. We've got something for everybody, I think.

Rebecca Archer

And can you share maybe some of the feedback that you receive from the various environments that you tend to operate in?

Debbie Sykes 

Just what a huge difference. The visits have the impact, as I said, you know, some of that really unexpected outcomes, you know, so we might be in a corridor in a hospital and run into a family. I think there was a situation where there was a young girl that was visually impaired and the dog kind of was sitting there nudging her hand with his nose. And so, she could find the dog and keep patting the dog, and afterwards, I think the staff member might have been the next visit found the volunteer and said, you know, you made such an impact with that young girl that day because it really helped her to regulate her emotion. Just having that moment where she was able to, you know, feel the dog, pat the dog, and then go into whatever treatment she was having, you know, and often I think our volunteers won't realise at the time what impact they've had until they hear about it later.

There are so many moments like that, honestly, and that's a really great part of the job is we often get this really beautiful feedback and, you know, it kind of fills your cup and yeah, it's great.

Rebecca Archer 

And that feedback would be, I guess, vital for trying to somehow measure the impact of the program itself on wellbeing or productivity. That would be a hard thing, I would imagine, to sort of pin down.

Debbie Sykes 

So, we ask our volunteers to fill in what we call sign on sheets after every visit. So, we get feedback from them, but also, it's their opportunity to kind of debrief you, share any challenges that might have come up or, you know, highlights. With our animal assisted therapy program in particular, you know, we needed to get some qualitative and quantitative feedback for the pilot program.

So, we did that through surveys and testimonials and then other more clinical measures. So, yeah, storytelling is obviously a big part of it. So, opportunities like this are great to share the stories, but we'd like to do more of that. As I said, we're in a bit of a recruitment phase at the moment. So, there's a few things happening where we'll hopefully have the opportunity to do more of that storytelling and share more about what the impact that the visits have.

Rebecca Archer 

And can you tell me a bit about some of the more interesting partnerships that you've got at the moment or even that you're looking to cement in the future?

Debbie Sykes 

A really exciting partnership that has launched a few months ago is Purina Super Coat. So, Purina Super Coat are a proud corporate partner of Delta Therapy Dogs, and we just got a promotion running actually in Woolies at the moment. We're all really excited about that!

Rebecca Archer 

Before we wrap up, Debbie, it would be great to hear what's on the horizon For Delta Therapy Dogs. What have you got in the pipeline that you can share?

Debbie Sykes

Delta's purpose has always been for animals and people to bring joy to each other, and we're on a mission now to achieve a million moments of joy annually through our Delta Therapy Dogs program. So that's the goal at the moment, and as I said, we're in a bit of a recruitment phase at the moment to help us achieve that. So internally also we've, we're really looking at how we work with volunteers and partners.

So, my role is partnerships lead to kind of really engage and support those partners and then we've got a volunteer experience team now because we really want to focus on, you know, having a really terrific and well supported volunteer journey for people that come in and join us in the program.

Automation is a big thing as well. So, we are automating quite a lot at the moment to help us really streamline those practices and improve efficiency, to free us up to spend more time then with our partners and our volunteers and really build on that relationship side of things.

The other thing we did last year was we launched a regular giving program and we're asking donors to sign up and become regular givers and give us just a small amount each month and then that then goes in to support the, the programs that we offer to the vulnerable people in our community like the Delta Therapy Dogs program. So yeah, that those are the key things that are happening at the moment.

Rebecca Archer

And if anyone who is interested in getting involved or maybe just following the journey through for others who are participating in, in these programs, how can they find Delta Therapy Dogs? Are you on socials? What's the best place to track these services down?

Debbie Sykes 

So, Delta Therapy Dogs and Delta Institute are both on socials, so Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and we also have the website Delta Therapy Dogs website and the Delta Institute website as well. So those are probably the best places to go. There's a lot of information on there and of course, if people want to reach out to me on LinkedIn, happy to engage that way.

Rebecca Archer

If you liked this podcast and want to hear more incredible stories, be sure to follow and subscribe to The Remarkables podcast by Grant Thornton Australia on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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I’m Rebecca Archer – thank you for listening.

Debbie Sykes

After the first week, I was generally broke and hungry. That is how big is the problem now we've got all these young adults that are young leaders.

Rebecca Archer 

There are so many parallels between what I do and also the business world.

Debbie Sykes

My biggest inspirations. I think that there's a lot of misconceptions out there around what deaf can do.

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