Great Falls / Reston Companion Dog Training School
Lloyd Aguero, Director - Applied Canine Problem Behavior Consultant - (703) 759-3129
Project HEART
Dr. Albert Einstein, the renowned and the most respected scientific genius of this century stated, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. It is a preview of coming attraction."Project HEART was first "imagined" by me in the fall of 1986. At that time I was engaged in identifying the behavior problems manifested by a clients's pet dogs. The dogs were maladjusted to every day life experiences due to socializing deprivation and only needed gentle desensitizing procedures. I had experienced this many times before, but on this particular occasion the environment of the owner's home on five acres, eased the behavioral therapy. It then struck me. For dogs what is needed is a private bucolic environment, simulating natural "denning", so that the dog can know it has it's own "space". Then the socializing process becomes a matter of lime. The dog then comes to re-entry rehabilitation from a position of relative strength (a natural setting), rather than one of weakness, (the battered state).
I have learned that battered animals are not unlike battered people. Both need an opportunity to heal completely, to learn trust and loyalty and love all over again (perhaps for the first time).
Once I made this fundamental connection between environment and successful therapy, I thought, "1 can do this far one dog at a time on my (much smaller) property." At that moment my invention of Project HEART was born.
As the concept developed, I visited human rehabilitation facilities to assimilate the holistic mix of environment and therapy necessary far rehabilitation and restoration of "selF. I became even more convinced and determined that the natural denning center, located in a visually peaceful and quiet setting , was the essence of the solution, and the method.
In the summer of 1990,1 assembled a team that included an architectural horticulturist, a graphic artist, and a "doggie" contractor. Since then I have been joined by several professionals from the business sector. The dedication and enthusiasm that follows to this day, convinced me thai Project HEART could light a fire beneath an iceberg of mass ignorance regarding the neglect and abuse of pet dogs.
In this country, up to fourteen million pet dogs and cats are euthanized each year. And what about these whose deaths are more violent than merciful? The Project HEART concept cannot appreciably affect those statistics, but it can and will provide an alternative means of support within the rescue/placement system.
Beyond this horizon, however, lies another value with even more relevance to the human condition which has provided for me by Dr. Leo Bustad, Dean Emeritus, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University. I attended a conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Hearth on the subject of the Psychological aspects of Human - Animal Bonding At that time Dr. Bustad said something that is engraved in my memory. He stated, "The best place to build a nursing home is between a kindergarten and a zoo."
Building on that premise, young and old people with emotional, learning, behavioral, and physical disorders will be encouraged to visit and serve as "doggie therapists", and will themselves derive immeasurable self esteem and restorative every, which they can internalize for their own therapeutic benefit.
Lloyd Aguero
For more information on Project HEART, please contact us.
Lloyd Aguero: lloyd.aguero@verizon.net - (703)759-3129
All Content ©
Lloyd Aguero, Great Falls/Reston Companion Dog Training School