Program Information

DuPage Paws for People (DPP4P) visits School Association for Special Education in DuPage County (SASED) vision-impaired and hearing-impaired classrooms from preschool through high school.

Therapy dog Elsa sitting outside Addison Trail High School in the snow.

Therapy dog Tula visiting students at school.

Diversity Statement

Currently our DPP4P volunteers serve diverse populations of students with registered therapy dogs. And like the Pet Partners national organization, who register our Teams, we are also committed to:

“… creating a volunteer force that is more representative of the populations we serve. We welcome unique perspectives and experiences in terms of national origin, culture, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, race, color, sex, gender identity and expression, education, age, languages spoken, veteran status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and beliefs, which help us strengthen our impact.”
(Pet Partners)

Therapy Dog Benefits

DPP4P is a volunteer group of registered therapy dogs, which are their handlers pets. Our teams are Pet Partners registered therapy dogs, a national nonprofit since 1977, who educate handlers and test therapy animal teams for obedience and temperament in various situations. Through the human-animal connection, a therapy dog team’s role is to offer emotional support, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being in a variety of settings.

Our Teams have learned from our own experiences as well as documented medical studies, therapy animal visits enhance mental and physical well-being, socialization, and communication abilities. We know firsthand the power of unconditional love of an animal and the students that we visit are especially in need of this emotional connection.

Therapy dog Sweetie listens as a student reads her a book.

Paws in Action

Therapy dog Elsa and her handler guide a student.

Therapy dog Tula sits on the steps of Stella May Swartz Elementary School.

Therapy dog Tula works with a class hearing program.

Therapy dog Tori and her handler guide a student

Therapy dog Tori visits the District 45 Childhood Center.

Therapy dog Regal poses while a student pets her.

Therapy dog Myla visits Albright Middle School.

Therapy dog Kualani helps students write.

Therapy dog Kualani and her handler pose in a school.

Therapy dog Kualani smiles while working with school faculty.

Therapy dog Jango visits North Elementary School.

Students reaching out and petting therapy dog Jango as he listens.

Therapy dog Tula walking down school hallway with handler and student.

Therapy dog Fiesta listens to a student read a book.

Therapy dog Elsa visits Westmont Junior High School.

Therapy dog Fiesta visits Salt Creek Primary School.

Therapy dog Teagan visits Salt Creek Primary School.

Therapy dog Jango is brushed by a student while wearing a blue bandana. The bandana spells out JANGO in ASL.