Caring Canines is an all-volunteer group of owners and their registered therapy dogs.  All visits are offered free of charge as a community service.

 The main visitation program consists of scheduled group visits with an average of 4 to 6 dogs at assisted living facilities, nursing homes, hospitals, and residential group homes.  The visits last about 30-40 minutes and take place in a community room where interested residents or patients have gathered together.  In addition, Caring Canines has a number of special programs:

Our "Hug A Pet" division serves special needs classes in schools, and provides visits to residential homes for children at-risk, homeless shelters and hospitals.

The Caring Canines' Entertainment Team presents a dog show with tricks, skits and agility demonstrations once a month at Children's Hospital Boston.

The Critical Incident Response Team is ready to provide emotional support and comfort to victims, family members and disaster workers in crisis situations.

        During the week we conduct visits on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, generally in the early afternoon.  Our weekend program has visits on Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. and on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m.   Please see our current schedule of visits for a sample listing of the facilities and towns that we visit.