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Videos and Books for Purchase

Live-in and Visiting Animal Series

Produced by CENSHARE
©1987, University of Minnesota

For many people living in long term care and assisted living environments, maintaining a sense of connection to their surroundings can be difficult. A companion animal program provides residents with a much needed outlet for love, touch, and social interaction. The following videotapes will give you step-by-step guidance to establish a successful pet program. The programs are told in an upbeat, occasionally humorous manner and show actual examples of pets in care centers. Everything is carefully detailed from planning and formulating objectives, to first-day arrangements, to successful ongoing maintenance. The programs are informative, fun to watch, and inspiring!

The videotape format is 1/2" VHS. The cost is $17.95 per videotape or $59.95 for the series of five programs. CENSHARE cannot take orders by phone. Click here to print an order form.

Finding and screening volunteers and dogs

Preparing for staff responsibility

Important selection criteria for choosing dogs

Orienting the volunteer and planning visits

Minimizing volunteer attrition

Evaluating and maintaining your program

Getting the proper experts to help

Successfully establishing staff responsibilities for the program and the dog

Finding and evaluating dogs for suitable behavior, temperament, health

Providing for the dog's needs such as housing, exercise, elimination

Expenses to consider when starting a live-in dog program

Evaluating and maintaining your program

Selecting the proper experts to help

Finding and evaluating a cat for suitable behavior, temperament, health

Successfully establishing staff responsibilities for the program and the cat

Developing a health maintenance program for the cat

Providing for the cat's needs such as housing and litter box

Daily maintenance requirements such as brushing, recreation, rest

Expenses to consider when starting a live-in cat program

Evaluating and maintaining your program

Therapeutic advantages of the live-in fish program

Successfully establishing staff responsibilities for the program and the fish

Requirements for setting up a tropical or a cold water aquarium

How to select and introduce fish to the aquarium

Daily maintenance and diet requirements

Causes and symptoms of stress and illness in fish

Start-up and ongoing expenses for a live-in fish program

How to select a rabbit for health, temperament, behavior

Ideal breeds for a live-in health care setting

Introducing the rabbit to its new surroundings

Preparing for the first few days

Daily maintenance and diet requirements

Symptoms of illness and stress

Successfully establishing staff responsibilities for the program and the rabbit

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The Pet Connection—Its Influence on Our Health and Quality of Life

Why do more than half of American families have companion animals? Why is it that 94% of Fortune 500 CEO's had a pet in their childhood? How do companion animals contribute to the health and the quality of life for people? Why does the presence of a dog or cat in a room, a park, or on a street serve as a social lubricant? Are the aging process and human development different for the contributions of pets? Is it true that a person's blood pressure is lowered while petting a dog? Can animals help autistic and emotionally disturbed children? The Pet Connection offers some answers to these questions.

This 456-page paperback contains the proceedings of conferences on the human-animal bond held at the University of Minnesota and the University of California-Irvine in 1983. The Pet Connection contains articles and studies from over 80 authors on a wide array of subjects. The collection is arranged into seven chapters:

The book is published by CENSHARE and costs $16.95. CENSHARE cannot take orders by phone. Click here to print an order form.

"Oh, Where Has My Pet Gone?"

This book was created with keen appreciation of the animal-human bond; the very important and unique relationship that develops between pet lover and animal. With this special love and attachment in mind, it naturally follows that the death or loss of a beloved pet whether by illness, old age, euthanasia, moving away, running away, allergies, or sudden accident can be a painful and poignant life experience. It is frequently a child's first encounter with death.

"Oh Where Has My Pet Gone?" combines the essential tasks of mourning into directed activities (writing, drawing, talking, and feeling) in order to provide a framework for healing. This pet loss memory book is for children from ages 3-103.

The author Sally Sibbitt, MSW, LICSW, is a Bereavement and Loss Therapist at the National Childhood Grief Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota. By her side at the Children's Center is a team of certified Golden Retriever therapy dogs who greet the families and offer pet assisted therapy support.

Her book was published in 1981 by B. Libby Press of Wayzata, Minnesota. It costs $9.95 and is available through CENSHARE. CENSHARE cannot take orders by phone.

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