About us
The people behind Jack and Pals Therapy dogs are Faye, Mike, Maria, Katy and Wendy.
Between them, they have five border collies and two gold retrievers, but of course we accept any breed of dog with a suitable temperament into Jack and Pals Therapy Dogs.
The five founding volunteers have a wealth of knowledge in business management, running business, community involvement, forces veterans and educational settings, just the experience needed to run a not-for-profit group of volunteers.
Click here to see some of our dogs in action in a local care home on BBC Look North in January 2026.
We are caring and dedicated to bringing a bit of therapy through a wagging tail and a swaying bottom! Dogs not us!
We all adore our dogs and know how very special they are and want to share the bond we have with our dogs as well as their gentle nature and love of people.
Most of our new volunteers have been visiting for a number of years and now we come together to form our our not-for-profit group, still the same humans and still the same canines, just a different colour uniform.
Raw Feeding and other things!
As an organisation we allow our therapy dogs to be raw fed and they must be vaccinated or titre tested. We are happy whatever you feed your dogs, just please fed them!
Our policy balances flexibility for our volunteers by allowing raw feeding while accepting titre testing alongside standard vaccinations.
Our titre testing guidelines explicitly follow the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) guidelines. These require proof of immunity to core diseases: Distemper, Hepatitis, and Parvovirus (DHP).
Many medical facilities, hospitals, or care environments follow strict protocols, which explicitly advise against raw-fed dog visits. Our volunteers adhere to individual settings venues who retain the final veto over raw-fed animals.
We maintain strict rules regarding our volunteers' hand hygiene and face-licking by our canine pals. This significantly reduces the risk of zoonotic bacterial transmission to vulnerable or immunocompromised individuals.
Jack - Head Canine Pal
Jack was a therapy dog for twelve years, visiting schools, care homes, nursing homes, youth clubs and businesses. He competed in agility and also stared in a film. He attended Crufts twice as a therapy dog and also competed in obedience and hoopers.
He leads the way in therapy dog visiting and we are proud to name our organisation after him.
Sadly, we lost Jack in September 2025 after a short and sudden illness at the age of 13 and a half.
He will never be forgotten and his name will live on in our organisation.
Our policies
Please click the policy you wish to read and download to your device.