“PCS Sarah Active Ageing Centre organised our inaugural animal-assisted interaction programme for our seniors with The Dogtors’ “Sunshine Canines” from June to Nov 2024.

This programme gave our seniors the chance to interact with the lovely dogs by playing games together. Their specially curated games piqued our seniors’ interest and brought a lot of joy during the sessions. Our seniors also enjoyed the companionship of the dogs, and loved petting them and giving them treats. Photo taking with the dogs also always brought smiles to our seniors’ faces.

The dogs are well-trained and obedient. Some seniors did not have prior experience playing with dogs and got very excited as a result. They wanted to keep petting the dogs, and under the guidance of the experienced dog handlers, the sessions progressed with smiles and laughter all around.

One of the highlights was that the canines and the seniors got along very well in spite of the language barrier as most of the seniors are Mandarin-speaking, while the dogs mainly understood English cues. Some seniors took this opportunity to speak in simple English and the dogs also seemed to understand them. Not to forget the friendly senior befrienders who came to join the sessions – they were very helpful and engaging, which truly enhanced our seniors’ experience.”