Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Volunteer Week - Canine Friends Pet Therapy Group volunteers share man's best friend

Katee Shanks
By Katee Shanks
Multimedia journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
20 Jun, 2019 08:22 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Volunteer Mary Barton with Minnie, the sydney silky terrier. Photo / Stephen Parker

Volunteer Mary Barton with Minnie, the sydney silky terrier. Photo / Stephen Parker

Members of a volunteer group in Rotorua are sharing their best friends with others in the community.

The Canine Friends Group was founded in Wellington in 1990 by Eileen Curry who was moved by the despair of an elderly woman going into care and unabled to take her beloved dog with her. Curry offered to visit her with her own dogs and quickly realised this could be a service that would bring comfort to many people.

The Canine Friends Pet Therapy Group has been in Rotorua since 2008. For the past eight years Mary Barton and her Sydney silky terrier Minnie have been part of the group of volunteers.

"I signed up to Canine Friends believing if we all do something helpful for others, the community is a better place," Barton said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Minnie had to be temperament-tested, as are all the dogs before becoming canine members, as some of the people we visit have lost some of their co-ordination and aren't very good at stroking the dogs.

"Often they are poked and prodded and their tails pulled so obviously they need to be non-aggressive."

The17 local dog owners who volunteer with the Canine Friends Group haveanimals in a variety of shapes and sizes.

"I think my dog is the smallest but we have a retired greyhound and a rottweiler among us," Barton said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Canine Friends Group visit each of Rotorua's rest homes forabout 90 minutes.

"Perhaps the most valuable skill a group member can have is the ability to show a genuine interest in the person you are talking to. For some, seeing a dog will bring up memories of a dog they once owned. This, in turn, usually leads to a conversation about pets, and then family members and then the photos come out.

Discover more

Superheroes celebrated with National Volunteer Week

13 Jun 02:00 PM

How volunteers keep Rotorua running

16 Jun 05:00 AM

Retired vet takes volunteer work into his own hands

22 Jun 03:00 AM

For the love of children, animals and the environment

17 Jun 04:00 AM

"Some of the people we see don't have many, or even any, other visitors."

As well as rest homes, one of the volunteers takes their dog into aschool.

"The children actually read to the dog. They [the pupils] love it as it's not a grown-up listening to them, it's a dog.

"Canine Friends also go to the Tree Trust to meet people in wheelchairs. Balls are thrown and retrieved by the dogs."

Barton said members would love to be able to go into the Rotorua Hospital and Hospice if there were enough volunteers and if the two places would have them.

"We would love to have more volunteers join us, it really is very rewarding work. While the majority of our group are older people, and I think that's simply because older people have more time, we do have younger dog owners as well."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

At close to 90, Barton believes she gets back as much as she gives.

"When you're older you often don't feel terribly needed. It's nice to wake up and think today's the day I go and do something for someone else."

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Police search for suspect after man shot in leg

06 Jul 10:51 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Kāinga Ora axes housing project, reveals new plans

06 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Balancing power: What the employment law changes mean for you

06 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Police search for suspect after man shot in leg

Police search for suspect after man shot in leg

06 Jul 10:51 PM

Information sought about man in green coat and gumboots on Pine Drive, Murupara.

Kāinga Ora axes housing project, reveals new plans

Kāinga Ora axes housing project, reveals new plans

06 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Balancing power: What the employment law changes mean for you

Balancing power: What the employment law changes mean for you

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Caught on tape: Identity finally revealed of Jaguar-driving teen behind CBD rampage

Caught on tape: Identity finally revealed of Jaguar-driving teen behind CBD rampage

06 Jul 06:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP