The latest news from Hearts of Gold
All the videos for the Hearts of Gold Therapy Teams can be found here: Hearts of Gold YouTube channel
News for the Month of May:
Hearts of Gold therapy teams had the prestigious honor to attend the UnitedHealthcare National HR Conference and share lots of fur love with the professionals. One of the seminars we supported was “pet friendly work environments” and our pups certainly knew how to promote this wonderful idea! Enjoy watching our professional four-pawed ambassadors at https://youtu.be/-HeMNxKVF20
Hearts of Gold therapy teams had an amazing time at an Amazon Fulfillment center during Mental Health Awareness month. Did you know that many fulfillment centers span the equivalent of 28 football fields and can hold tens of millions of items on any given day? Our pups were treated like royalty and received their very own Amazon photo ID tags, Amazon buckle collars, toys, toys, toys and treats. But the best part was the wonderful smiles our special pups created as they visited with each person and showered them with golden dust. Here is the link to our amazing Amazon visit, but I have to warn you – the smiles are contagious!!! https://youtu.be/vhuv-Rarxfo
Past News:
April, 2022
We have lots of news to share with you this week and I’ll start with our Irish smiles. There are two things you can count on when Hearts of Gold pups visit Banyan Residence – lots of happy tail wags creating wonderful smiles! Here is their latest visit so you can enjoy seeing the pups in action – “>https://youtu.be/nscskmY-AnE
Let’s hear a round of applause for eight new Hearts of Gold teams who successfully passed their therapy screening and their Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification testing in Sumterville. Watch them go through their paces learning about medical equipment, proper greeting techniques and demonstrating their good manners at https://youtu.be/PKqApj6gjoQ
Another milestone was met this month and our pups are very excited to pawclaim that their GRRMF Hearts of Gold YouTube channel climbed to over 6,000 viewership! We appreciate you sharing our link with friends and family – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7TOBr6gk3muA9XArs-qjxw
11/14/2021:
GRRMF set up a booth at the 12th Woof It Up Event (Responsible Dog Ownership Day), on Sunday, 11/14/21, at Riverfront Park in Cocoa Village. The Brevard County Dog Training Club hosted this event for their organization.
Huge thanks to the Hearts of Gold Team of Ginger V., Barbara B., Penny D., Lysee K., Warren & Robbie M., and Charlotte H. who joined them with their beautiful Goldens: Rocky, Madison, Bella, Penny, Cody, Sadie and Misty. They were wonderful ambassadors for the GRRMF booth. Thanks to Tyler R. for joining and taking photos.
Thanks, again, to each of you for coming and helping GRRMF get exposure, it was a great day to be outside with all the dogs!
West Coast – Friday Fun Night – September 24th!
The Lutheran Church Of The Resurrection in Palm Harbor 34685 held a Friday Fun Night. The parents enjoyed a night out while their children enjoy fun games, food, and a movie. The Hearts Of Gold Team greeted the parents/children and shared their Hearts Of Gold photo book.
July 4th video:
The west coast of the Hearts of Gold Therapy team put together a delightful video for your viewing!
Hearts of Gold has expanded to The Villages:
Hearts of Gold has officially expanded into The Villages area with a solid support team of volunteers. CONGRATULATIONS to Bella (handler Barbara), Hoss (handler Helen) and Angel (handlers Teri and Tom) who passed their Hearts of Gold therapy screening on May 15 and are scheduled to begin facility visits in June, see our first visit video on the Hearts of Gold YouTube channel (link at top of page). Photo courtesy of our Central area photographer Chuck.
Saturday and Wednesday mornings (May 1st through June 12th):
Hearts of Gold therapy teams are supporting the Pinellas County SPACEcraft Read program at Heritage Village (Largo) on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 AM-Noon, May 1-June 12. Come out and visit with us!🐾
5/7/2021:
The Fountains first Friday of May visit turned out to be a very important “FIRST” for two reasons.
Hearts of Gold did their first “indoor” therapy visit last week at Fountains of Melbourne and shared happy tail wags and lots of “Free Fur Friday” fun with the residents. Since all the residents at this facility have been vaccinated, plus our handlers, we were comfortable transitioning to indoor therapy visits. COVID protocols were still practiced with everyone wearing a mask and the handlers sharing their pocket hand sanitizer with each person before interaction with our pups occurred.
AND, it was Bella’s first “formal” therapy visitation with her handler Mike (who is also our photographer and video creator). Everyone enjoyed feeling her soft fur and the huge smile on Bella’s face shows how much she loves her new career choice! The other handlers were doing double duty during this visit to capture the joy Bella was giving and receiving during her first therapy visit. We hope to have a helping hand at our next scheduled therapy visit on June 4 to capture both video and digital photos of our Hearts of Gold therapy team interacting with our friends.
Also a friendly reminder that you can see our newest videos and revisit your favorites on our YouTube channel
4/17/2021:
The West coast therapy team held a springtime photo shoot near shelter 7 at Philippe Park. Doggie paw-cassos are achieved by putting the paper and paint in a sealed baggie and spread peanut butter on the outside. As the dog licks the baggie, the paint is spread!
4/2/2021:
The East Coast therapy team visited the Fountains of Melbourne on the first Friday of April to kick off their Hearts of Gold First Friday visitations. The therapy team was met with joy and laughter as they shared the beginning of Easter weekend with the pups!
3/20/2021:
The west coast therapy team held an Easter photo shoot on March 20 at 11. They met at John Chestnut Park behind shelter 3 located at 2200 E. Lake Rd. S., Palm Harbor. Bunny ears and Easter hats, were the outfits for the day.
3/23/2021:
The east coast therapy team held their Easter photo shoot on March 23 at Gleason Park in Indian Harbor Beach. The egg hunt was followed by Paw-casso painting on canvas.
02/27/2021:
The east coast therapy team held their St. Patrick’s Day photo shoot at Gleason Park (Indian Harbour Beach) on Saturday, Feb. 27th at 1PM. The pups were dressed in their vests and St. Patty’s Day best!
02/20/2021:
The west coast therapy team had a St. Patrick’s Day photo shoot at Philippe Park ( 2525 Philippe Pkwy, Safety Harbor) on Feb. 20 at 12. They will be meeting at shelter 7. The pups were dressed in their St. Patrick’s Day attire!
02/12/2021:
Fountains of Melbourne invited the therapy pups to come visit on Friday, February 12 at 2 PM. The event was held outside behind the main building in the pool area. Here is the absolutely beautiful video of our pups interacting with the Fountains’ residents. The pure sensory joy our seniors experienced by snuggling with the pups is captured in this video!
01/30/2021:
The East Coast Hearts of Gold Therapy Team, were thinking Valentine’s Day when they did their latest photo shoot at “Surf and Sand” (Indialantic). The beautiful day and waves made for a great back drop!
01/23/2021:
The West Coast Hearts of Gold Therapy Team held a photo shoot at Philippe Park (Safety Harbor) with Valentine’s Day being the theme for our pups!
12/19/2020:
The West Coast Hearts of Gold Therapy Team recently met to do a Holiday video for their facilities and of course you! Relax and take a peek at the pups in action!
12/7/2020:
The East Coast Hearts of Gold Therapy Team have been keeping busy! They held their Holiday photo shoot at the Avenue Viera and made a wonderful video to share not only with you but with their facilities during this holiday season. We hope you enjoy!
12/4/2020:
The East Coast Hearts of Gold Therapy team received a special request from their friends at Fountains of Melbourne to have our therapy pups visit with residents. Everyone (residents and handlers) wore masks and the use of hand sanitizer was part of the safety protocol. See how much enjoyment the residents had seeing their old buds again!
11/24/2020:
East and West Coast Hearts of Gold Therapy Teams, here are some extra photos for your holiday viewing:
11/14 & 21/2020:
Happy Thanksgiving from the East and West Coast Hearts of Gold therapy teams. We hope you enjoy the dogs and their handlers at a special dog friendly Thanksgiving table. Take a peek at our therapy puppers!
10/19 & 24/2020:
You know it’s fall when the Hearts of Gold therapy teams get their pumpkins on!!! Both the East Coast and West Coast teams had a blast posing for you in these videos. Take a look:
10/03/2020:
The East Coast therapy team got all decked out for a holiday photo shoot at Pineapple Park in Eau Gallie. Like the west coast on 9/19/2020, the east coast got their photos taken for the new project – Roaming Pet Therapy. Here are the pups in their latest feature video!
09/19/2020:
Many of our west coast Hearts of Gold therapy pups enjoyed playing with their fur buddies and getting their photo taken for our newest project – Roaming Pet Therapy. The life-size acrylic cut-outs of each dog will be rotated to facilities we visited for pet therapy and stationed near the front lobby area for the resident’s enjoyment, along with a message from Hearts of Gold. Here is the latest tail wagging video!
09/14/2020:
Our East Coast therapy dogs and handlers were at it again. This time it was at Pineapple Park in Eau Gallie, the photo shoot went off smoothly even with an approaching storm! Here are two videos of the therapy team.
09/08/2020:
The East Coast therapy dogs and handlers met in Gleason Park for a photo shoot, capturing more wonderful photos and video clips of their teams in action. Here is their first video:
09/3/2020:
Here are a couple of videos of our Hearts of Gold Therapy Teams. We are in the process of having more photo shoots, so check back often for more teams in action!
08/19/2020:
“Our pups bring so much joy to others and I appreciate all your support in helping us reach them in many different ways until we can safely resume therapy visits once again.” said Ginger, the lead for Hearts of Gold Therapy Team after receiving many gracious notes from facilities that have viewed their videos.
Below are some of the comments we have received from all the photos, messages and videos sent over the last few months.
AWESOME!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing. The residents will love it!
– TAMMY DUNLAP, LIFE ENRICHMENT DIRECTOR, Regal Palms
AWESOME – the residents love the dogs so much and can’t wait to see them again. Take care of those babies!
– Anita Pepin, Activities Director, Village of Veranda @ Lady Lakes
We miss all of you! Love all of the adorable pictures. Special hello to our class friend, Jake!
– Patti Ferlita, 5th Grade Teacher, Sullivan Partnership School
Thank you so much for your email! I was planning on sending an email asking for photos of the pups to share with our students at Florida Tech because it is now Finals Week, but it looks like you beat me to it!
– Julia Martinus, Community Director (Residence Life @ FIT campus)
Thank you for the smile on our hearts today. Have an awesome day.
– Taybi McFadden, Executive Administrative Assistant, No Limits Academy
08/12/2020:
The response to our videos has been so over whelming that Mike, along with Ginger took their photo shoot to Lake Seminole Park on the west coast of Florida! Here, along with photographer Renee they were able to do another of their wonderful videos for our clients that they can’t visit in person! Don’t forget to make it full screen and turn up the volume for the Golden Walk!
07/10/2020:
After another successful photo shoot, the Hearts of Gold Therapy Team moved to Gleason Park in Indian Harbour Beach, where Mike our fantastic photographer, did his magic! Check out our latest photo shoot!
06/25/2020:
The Hearts of Gold therapy team, although not being able to visit their facilities have not been idle. Recently, they took a trip to Viera and photographed some of our therapy dogs. We hope you enjoy their sweet faces.
06/15/2020:
Our Hearts of Gold therapy dogs may have had this time off, but they haven’t been just sitting around eating bon-bons. No, these pups are in front of the cameras so they can come to you by video! Here they are in Wickham Park doing what they do best….click below to see what Madison and Rocky have been doing!
03/15/2020:
As the Covid pandemic crosses America, our therapy dog work has been suspended in the facilities they visit. Check back for updates to see what our pups are doing going forward.
02/24/2020:
The Melbourne Hearts of Gold Therapy team visited Fountains of Melbourne on Valentines Day to spread some love. Each resident who visited received a chocolate and a red carnation.
