Learn about animal assisted therapy and meet the Rendia dogs that provide us with some vital stress-relief
Dogs can be more than just man’s best friend; they can also be a trained partner in your patients’ health care and recovery. Animal assisted therapy (AAT) has become widely accepted by many health professionals and is used in everything from cancer treatment to managing autism. Many patients report finding success when using therapy animals to reduce pain, improve fine motor skills, decrease blood pressure, and reinforce healthy behaviors such as walking and socializing. And while research still needs to be done to measure the clinical results of AAT, some preliminary studies have shown that these animals can alleviate stress and anxiety during and after a medical treatment.
Many hospitals and senior care facilities now have animal therapy programs to help patients with everything from physical therapy to anxiety and depression.
All dogs can provide therapeutic benefits to their owners but that does not mean all dogs are therapy dogs. While therapy dogs can be any size or breed, they must go through a rigorous training and screening process through accredited, insured training programs such as FIDOS for Freedom or the Good Dog Foundation. Just like you wouldn’t want to be treated by a doctor who has had no training, you wouldn’t want a dog that doesn’t know his pee pad from his prescription pad.
Introducing the dogs of Rendia
While none of the Rendia dogs have gotten themselves certified (yet), they certainly work hard to provide much-needed comfort during the stressful parts of our day. And while we love to feature them on our social media pages, we thought they deserved some extra attention on National Dog Day. We sat down with the office fur balls this week to chat about everything from patient education to celebrity crushes. For their first ever blog-debut, we give you the Dogs of Rendia!
Bear
Rendia Parent: Smitha Gopal, CEO
What is your role at Rendia? Canine Executive Officer
What is your favorite Rendia feature? Sharing. I love sharing everything from patient education to your lunch. You are going to share some of your lunch, right?
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? Very likely! This is my first office job (I was previously a watchdog), and I love hanging out with my buddies here.
Favorite part of the job? Watching our videos play in the lobby. There are hundreds to see and new ones all the time, so it’s non-stop entertainment all day long.
Winston Churchill (Churchie)
Rendia Parent: Julia Malanka, Marketing Manager
What is your role at Rendia? Barketing Manager
What do you love most about patient education? When my mom adopted me from the rescue, she noticed I had really bad cataracts and a corneal ulcer on my right eye. If she hadn’t used Rendia’s patient education software to learn about my conditions, she might not be so diligent about my medications.
What is your favorite Rendia feature? I love the POV feature because it helps my mom understand how my cataracts affect my vision. Now, she’s a lot better at making sure I don’t walk into the glass doors of the conference room.
Favorite part of the job? Putting on my most fetching bow tie and supervising meetings.
Petey
Rendia Parent: Katie Moyer, Director of Customer Success
What is your role at Rendia? Director of Treat Success
What do you love most about patient education? My mom needs a lot of patience and understanding to break through my fur-o-cious exterior and see the angel within. At the end of the day that’s what patient education is all about – the patience to help your patients comprehend their condition, and the understanding that it might take some time.
Favorite part of the job? Working from home! I’m not exactly office friendly…
Who is your celebrity crush? Bark Hamill! I’m a big fan of Star Wars, though I always related more with the dark side of the force.
Penny
Rendia Parent: Luke Demers, Engineering Director
What is your role at Rendia? Engineering Pack Leader
What is your favorite Rendia feature? I like the waiting room loops. They are the perfect distraction as I raid the treat jar.
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? No bones about it, Rendia is the best.
Favorite part of the job? Lunch!
Sammie
Rendia Parent: Beth Liebig, Staff Accountant
What is your role at Rendia? Official Dog-bone Counter
What do you love most about patient education? As you may have noticed, I recently underwent a pretty big procedure because I had a meningioma of the optic nerve and retinal detachment. Being properly educated about my condition helped me manage my expectations and keep my one eye on the ball.
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? Happy to use my pawpularity to spread the word about how great Rendia is!
Who is your celebrity crush? Brad Pit-bull. He’s easy on the eye.
Bailey
Rendia Parent: Michael Sopher, President and Co-Founder
What is your role at Rendia? President and Co-Hounder
What is your favorite Rendia feature? Exam Mode mainly because I love looking at the stapes bone.
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? I was just talking to my stuffed teddy bear about y’all the other day.
Who is your celebrity crush? Big fan of “Dick Woof.”
Goose
Rendia Parent: Colleen Daniels, Customer Success Manager
What is your role at Rendia? Customer Success Fetcher
What do you love most about patient education? I love when my mom helps doctors put Rendia on their website! It’s a great resource for when I’m lounging on the couch at home. I just wish my doggy eyes let me see more of the pretty colors in the videos!
Favorite part of the job? Protecting the office from intruders with my loud ruffs. I’ve got my eyes on that UPS guy.
Who is your celebrity crush? Wishbone! I wish they’d put that show back on TV.
Jasper
Rendia Parent: Matthias Egger, Senior Artist
What is your role at Rendia? Top-dog Artist
What is your favorite Rendia feature? I love to see what new animations my dad has created in the Rendia library. The new releases section is gnaw-rly!
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? I give Rendia five tail wags!
Favorite part of the job? I’m always ready for walk time. My motto is “sun’s out, tongue’s out.”
Stella
Rendia Parent: Kim Brock, Sales Development Representative
What is your role at Rendia? Snacks Development Representative
What is your favorite Rendia feature? The ability to upload my favorite animal content to the Rendia library and create a custom playlist that I can share on Facebook.
Who is your celebrity crush? Jim Carey because he loves all animals. I watch Pet Detective at least once a month.
Favorite part of the job? Greeting everyone that comes into the office.
Gurgi
Rendia Parent: Adam Schwaninger, Senior Software Developer
What is your role at Rendia? Senior Petcare Developer
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? Being able to share content via my website or email. It makes getting recommendations a lot easier than having to find them with my eyes or ears.
What do you love most about patient education? Old dogs can learn new tricks with Rendia’s educational videos!
Favorite part of the job? I love marking territory – er, making playlists. Either of those. Also, I love that I can still breathe. Seriously, I’m old.
Quincy
Rendia Parent: Kristen Shaab, Director of Marketing
What is your role at Rendia? Welcome Waggin’
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? Very – because I know the folks here at Rendia work like a dog to ensure their videos are accurate and engaging.
What do you love most about patient education? How much it can clear up confusion! Boy, did I learn a lot from watching this Rendia video!
Favorite part of the job? Managing this dog and pony show!
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