ESX Attendees Will Have the Chance to Be Comforted by Therapy Dogs

Come pet these companions at ESX and learn about what Indianapolis-based nonprofit Paws & Think is doing to assist at-risk youth and others.

ESX Attendees Will Have the Chance to Be Comforted by Therapy Dogs

A Paws & Think therapy dog.

INDIANAPOLIS — If the networking, educational sessions and products exhibition isn’t enough to coax you to attend the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) here June 3-6, maybe the dogs will.

ESX announced therapy dogs from the Indianapolis nonprofit Paws & Think will attend the convention, where security professionals can interact with these companions that provide a sense of security to children, teens and seniors year-round.

According to its website, the organization employs two methods for its work in the community. One is of training and providing therapy animals for animal-assisted activities and animal-assisted therapies to youth, elderly and special needs individuals of all ages.

The second method is youth-canine programs that facilitate classes for at-risk youth and teens, helping them to train shelter dogs with positive reinforcement behaviors. The young people learn responsibility, job readiness, anger management, parenting skills, leadership and positive life skills, while at the same time increasing the dog’s chances of adoption because of the basic obedience skills learned.

Pride and confidence are found as a result of both aspects of this vision, the organization says.

Security professionals might have more in common with these four-legged friends than they realize, the ESX announcement states. Whereas the security industry is mostly focused on deterrence and immediate reaction to physical threats, these canines are concerned with helping people after incidents that were not/could not have been prevented.

“Providing an atmosphere where people feel safe is an underlying theme of everything we do at Paws & Think,” says the organization’s executive director, Kelsey Burton.

Whether it be through helping school children grieve after a crisis or helping at-risk teens in juvenile detention centers grow and feel safe expressing themselves, the therapy dogs give a sense of emotional security that is vital to the healing process.

“[Electronic security professionals] provide a safe physical environment, and we provide a safe space to help people heal emotionally,” says Burton.

The therapy dogs are good listeners and companions for people who otherwise would not know how to talk to someone about what they are experiencing. The humans aren’t the only ones who benefit from this interaction; the dogs at Paws & Think are from shelters and are often at-risk before being given a job with the organization.

The socialization and training the dogs receive through their service to people are invaluable and can make them more attractive to potential pet owners.

Security professionals will have the chance to interact with these hardworking dogs at ESX, where Paws & Think will allow integrators and monitoring professionals from across the country to take a break from the expo to shake paws with their teammates in the ongoing effort to make people feel safe.

To register for ESX, go here. Learn more about Paws & Think here.

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