GUEST PUP PROFILE
High Energy Pup!
3 years old
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES
Playing laser beam indoors
FAVORITE INDOOR ACTIVITIES
SwiftPaws
Hide and Seek
MEET LESLIE
This week, SwiftPaws met up with Biggie’s mom, Leslie, to celebrate National Dog Therapy Day! In this guest post, Leslie shares why it is that nothing — not even quarantine — can stop Biggie from delivering dog therapy to the world!
ABOUT BIGGIE
Biggie is a high energy Bichon Shih-Tzu with a very calm demeanor. He is three years old and has been doing dog therapy for just over two years with the Humane Society of Greater Miami!
Biggie says, “Happy National Dog Therapy Day,” to all his fellow pups who are out there in quarantine today and says to be sure to spend every moment that you can with your human while they’re still at home!
Even though Biggie is VERY much suffering from Canine Cabin Fever (as am I), he’s excited to reconnect with his longtime pal @teddytheshichon and co-host the SwiftPaws Canine Cabin Fever Virtual Summit this May 14th! In the meantime, he has been keeping very busy with virtual dog therapy during the pandemic and making the best of things while mom works from home.
Virtual dog therapy is the same as in-person dog therapy minus the human touch. Biggie performs his tricks and the people on the other end of the screen still have their whole body language change on their face — you can just see the happiness chemicals just flowing through their brain as they witness Biggie just being Biggie!
VIRTUAL DOG THERAPY TRICKS
If you’re interested in pursuing virtual dog therapy, you may want to learn some of Biggie’s tricks which include:
- sit
- stay
- come
- spin (one way)
- turn (the other way)
- high ten
- gimme some and the other one
- know the difference between your toys – for Biggie, it’s his money and kitty.
- Over-under, or, jump over my legs and jump under my legs
THERAPY DOG TRAINING
Biggie has been learning lots of new tricks in his spare time as part of his virtual classes with PetMinded (a company based in Biggie’s favorite place to travel: New York City). However, If you’re interested in going a little further with dog therapy, you’ll want to take the formal American Kennel Club certification which is a six-week class. When you pass, your pup is registered as a formal “Canine Good Citizen”. They will need to pass all the commands and be sure to avoid reacting to loud sounds and sit still if something suddenly drops in the room.
If you’re like Biggie with a calm demeanor and really sweet, we highly recommend getting involved as a therapy dog with your local rescue! It has been a very rewarding experience for Biggie and a very rewarding experience for me as a pet parent. We are both oh so eager to reconnect with our therapy families in the coming weeks!
FOLLOW BIGGIE
Be sure to add @itz.me.biggie on Instagram! Biggie is always posting new, fun, and exciting activities each week in his Insta highlights and we love helping our fellow fur friends live their very best lives!
JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Looking for more doggo tips and tricks? Check out activities in our Facebook Community Group today! April is the launch of our Facebook Community and you’re invited to celebrate Canine Fitness Awareness Month by taking part in our Canine Cabin Fever Summit! Don’t miss out on your chance to go dog wild with like-minded pups around the world.
