Welcome back to our series on working dogs. In our last post we explored the role of Emotional Support animals.  This week we are jumping into the world of therapy dogs.

 

So what is a therapy dog exactly? 

 

Therapy dogs provide comfort or companionship to those with illnesses, disabilities, or who are in a stressful situation. 

 

Therapy dogs and their handlers volunteer their time and services to provide comfort in settings such as schools, hospitals, nursing facilities and workplaces, to name a few.

 

Often, the volunteering teams come regularly to one of these facilities, especially nursing homes and hospitals, and is usually the highlight of the week for the people they are visiting.

 

Therapy dogs visit schools to help children with learning disabilities, anxieties, or insecurities gain confidence to perform well. Often children find it easier to read aloud to a dog as they know that the dog won’t judge or make fun of them if they aren’t the best reader. 

 

Therapy Dogs don’t require special training to do their job. 

 

There is no specialized training needed to be a therapy dog, and any dog breed can provide comfort to a person. The most significant factor when determining if a dog is suitable as a therapy dog is the dog’s temperament. When determining if a dog is ideal for therapy work, look out for the following key personality and temperament traits 

 

• Calm Demeanor 
• Not easily startled
• Enjoy being touched or loved on 

 

Therapy dogs have to obey basic obedience commands, walk on a loose leash, and “leave it” all on command. The only training obstacle therapy dogs need to overcome is ensuring that they are very well socialized (with dogs, people and environments), comfortable in various situations, and not startled around unfamiliar items or sounds such as wheelchairs, walkers, sirens or busy environments.

 

Can therapy dogs go in any public space? 

 

Therapy dogs are not recognized under the ADA and therefore don’t have the right to enter all public places. 

 

A therapy dog and handler must belong to a therapy dog organization to access healthcare facilities and schools. While there is no uniform test to certify a therapy dog, each organization usually requires registration, a certification test such as Canine Good Citizen, an organization’s own certification test, or both tests. 

 

Belonging to a national therapy dog organization will also protect the handler and dog under the organization’s insurance and liability if a mishap would happen during a therapy visit. 

Here at Sit Means Sit we often have clients who are interested in training their dog to be a therapy dog. To help you and your pup get started providing this service to others, we offer basic training, Canine good citizen testing, and coordination with a therapy organization, The Go Team (www.goteamdogs.org) To learn more contact us.