Is it a dog or is it a seal? That's the question that we always get. And, if it's a dog, what breed is it?

It is supposed to be a dog. No particular breed--just something that is huggable and lovable.

The logo is something that Shari and Jane designed in the early days of NCTD. I was the one who was tasked with creating the electronic version of their "vision." I used CorelDraw to create the logo, because it was one of the few packages in the early 90's that could create text that was wrapped along a curve.

The heart was an easy starting point. It represents the unconditional love that is provided by our animal partners. The family was from some clip-art that we found; I did some editing to have them clustered rather than have them strung out end-to-end. The diversity of the family represents the notion that everyone benefits from animal interactions. Even in a medical care environment, we expect that the patient is the primary interface, but we know that everyone associated with the patient--family and staff--benefit from the interactions.

And, that brings us back to the dog. Jane had a German Shepherd and Shari and I had English Setters. We knew that we couldn't use either of those breeds lest we make it look like favoritism. We also knew that we didn't want to use a carton-like character, such as Marmaduke. So, we scoured the clip-art for something generic. What you see is a slightly edited version of a dog that Jane and Shari thought was appropriate. No, we never did give the dog in the logo a name.

Last, but not least, is "The Caring Canines" tag line. The lawyer that we used to incorporate suggested that we should have two "personas"-one for the clients and one for the donors. We were advised that in the DC metro area it was best to have an "official sounding" name for the formality of doing business and seeking donation; ergo, National Capital Therapy Dogs. And, we wanted something "softer" for the clients. Twenty years later it seems that "National Capital Therapy Dogs" or "NCTD" says it all.

Wayne Sternberger

How It all Began

Shari, Wayne, and Jane at the NCTD First Anniversary celebration

In the late 1980?s, formalized "pet therapy" was in its infancy. Most visiting programs were loosely organized; many were associated with animal shelters using transient animals. A number of us were involved in an organization that offered both assistance dogs and visiting dogs. Over time, the visiting dog program seemed to lose focus in deference to the assistance program.

We recognized that there was a need to offer a quality visiting program, and we decided to form a new non-profit to concentrate specifically on animal-assisted therapy and activities. In October 1990, Jane Bartholomew, Shari and I founded National Capital Therapy Dogs. There were six charter teams in the organization. The three of us were joined by Mona Shauffle with Rocky, Lynn Cooper and Magic, and Deborah and Jack Foley with Carolina. We coerced Ruth Chase into being our animal specialist. National Institutes of Health embraced us as our first facility. Soon after, Johns Hopkins Hospital became our second facility.

We set up our own evaluation protocol, incorporated, and started to slog through the process of becoming a recognized tax-exempt, non-profit organization. Jane, Shari, and I underwrote the operational expenses; we decided early on that we wanted our volunteers to be able to spend time providing client contact rather than conducting fund raising.

Through Ruth's training classes and informational exhibits at local pet food stores, we were able to recruit more volunteer teams. Soon we were offering "training," in the form of open floors, formalized evaluations for new teams; we even enlisted Ellen Shay to develop a volunteer handbook. We grew in size and added more facilities.

The rest is history. Twenty years later, NCTD is alive, vibrant, and serving more and more clients with the highest quality "product" that can be had.

Wayne Sternberger

Come to the 20th Anniversary Celebration!

NCTD's 20th Anniversary Celebration is happening at Ten Oaks Ballroom, in Clarksville, MD on Sunday, October 3, 2010, in the afternoon. This event is free for NCTD volunteers. If you visit in one of our facilities, help regularly with our events, serve on our board, this means you. Invitations will be sent out soon. You will need to RSVP since this is a formal event. Canine partners are invited as well.

National Capital Therapy Dogs' reading program helps children enjoy reading. Dogs like listening to the books and the children enjoy reading to the dogs.
Therapy dogs like Beau work with 3rd or 4th grade children in many local schools and libraries.

Mark and Michelle Cohen -- NIH Service Award

Caption: Volunteers Mark and Michelle Cohen (middle) were honored by CC Volunteer Program coodinator Courtney Duncan for their efforts with animal-assisted therapy. “I am glad that we can help, it is so nice to see someone who is maybe having a tough time light up when we visit,” Mark said.

The Clinical Center Social Work Department honored hospital volunteers April 19 to 25 as part of National Volunteer Week, a celebration of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to improve communities across the country.

The 17th annual CC volunteer appreciation event on April 22 included a presentation of special recognition awards to nine volunteers based on consistency, reliability, hours spent, or “general overall wonderfulness,” as CC Volunteer Program coordinator Courtney Duncan said. Out of the 280 volunteers from the last year (currently 197 on board), honored were: Mark and Michelle Cohen, animal-assisted therapy program; Eileen De Santillana, Language Interpreters Program; Joanne Hill, Patient Ambassador Program; Saroja Kanesa-Thasan, Red Cross; Cynthia Kim, Patient Ambassador Program; Janet Logan, volunteering on OP 12 for 14 years; Monica Sullivan, Language Interpreters Program; and Armen Thomasian, Patient Ambassador Program.

In the celebration’s welcome, CC Chief Operating Officer Maureen Gormley thanked the volunteers for their contribution to the CC’s healing environment. “The care that makes this place human is the care that you give every day to our patients,” she said.

The Social Work Department also organized mini-celebrations in the volunteer/Red Cross lounge each day throughout National Volunteer Week, where volunteers were invited to meet and mingle with their peers.