The Fascinating Life of Therapy Dogs Articles | Dog and Puppies

By: Jeremy C.W

"The Fascinating Life of Therapy Dogs"

What are Therapy Dogs?

Therapy Dogs are classified as Working Dogs trained to provide care, ease, affection and to up-lift the spirits of people in medical and nursing institutions, centers, schools.

The effects of regular visitations from these lovable pooches have been linked to conditional improvements of many health related issues like: lowering of blood pressure and easing the effects of Alzheimer’s among adults and seniors. Non-profit groups like the Delta Society help fund Pet Therapy with autistic children, impaired children and adults.

Therapy Dogs should not be classified as Assistance Dogs (Dogs used for people with physical disabilities other related issues). Most therapy dogs are the personal pets of ordinary dog owners who want to provide aid and services to people in need usually in a controlled environment.

Registered therapy dogs are recommended by others or invited by institutions to come into nursing homes, hospitals, or care centers to work with patients on their emotional health and needs. Depending on the situations, therapy dogs may also be asked to perform entertaining dog trick and games supervised by their handlers. Children in particular enjoy the company of these lovable pooches.

Elaine Smith, who founded Therapy Dogs International, Inc. (TDI) in 1976, is often attributed to the conception of the therapy dog. Seeing how positively patients reacted to visits by certain breeds of dogs as a registered nurse during her time in England, Elaine thus started a program for training therapy dogs to visit distress centers and institutions, when she returned to America.

Therapy dogs come in all breeds and sizes. One thing that makes a good therapy dog is it’s temperament. They must protrude strong characteristic of friendliness, gentleness and must be ready to react to all situations with confidence and ease.

“Training Therapy Dogs and
Qualifications For a Therapy Dog”

With the growing demand for such animal-assisted therapy (AAT), training a Therapy Dog is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things to do for any dog and it’s owner. In order for your dog to be a therapy dog, it must possess a suitable temperament with a calm, friendly demeanor.

A good start for therapy dog training is enrolling your dog for the American Kennel Club (AKC)Canine Good Citizen ® Certification. Many people use this Canine Good Citizen ® certification (CGC) as a starting point for embarking on their therapy dog training and other types of dog training.

The (CGC) certification or it’s equivalent, serves as a foundation and requirement for new skills that a dog must possess in order to progress to the level of Therapy Dog; and other advanced (TDI) certification test that permits dogs to become Therapy Dogs.

Therapy Dog Programs and Training are mainly focused on Canine Socialization to different types of situations that are expected to happen in a typical therapy setting. It also focuses heavily on behavior modification to alleviate your pet’s natural fears in situations involving complicated and unpredictable environments of hospitals, nursing institutions and schools.

As a qualified Therapy Dog team, (TDI) will organizing visitation for you to medical and nursing institutions, centers, schools or any other facilities where Therapy Dogs are needed. These professional organizations also provide registration, support and insurance for owners of therapy dogs.

Other Popular Therapy Dog Certifying agencies include - Delta Society and Therapy Dogs Inc.

“Preliminary Assessment and Evaluation for Therapy Dogs”

Below are some primary questions that you can ask yourself; and some things you can do to determine and test to see if your dog has what it takes for therapy training and service.

These questions are also some of the pre-assessment and evaluation list of “items” that most Dog Therapy Certification Organizations would be in favor of.
*May Vary for Different Organizations and Training Centers.

If you answered NO to these questions, then it simply identifies some areas that your dog needs to be working on.

QUESTIONS

Is your dog happy around other people? In other words, is he or she a “people’s dogs”? Does your dog display a communicative body language such as wagging his tail and putting on his smiling face?

One good tip for testing your dog’s potential is to bring it a crowded place like the park or mall and see how he or she interacts with strangers. If your dog has been previously trained to listen to your commands, see how he or she responds in unpredictable and high-distraction environments.

Other types of assessment you can do to test your dog’s Dog Therapy Potential:

Is your dog shy or aggressive around strangers when interacting or playing?

Is your dog trained enough to able to greet strangers sitting down rather that jumping up and down excitedly?

Will you be able to give your dog commands in a calmer, softer voice approach?

How does your dog react to startling situations, to loud voices and gestures, to other animals around and moving objects?

How does your dog respond to food around?

What does your dog behave when they are wearing costumes?

“Choosing The Right Therapy Dog Breed”

Currently, there are no regulations to state that dog therapy occupations should only be handled by certain breeds of dogs. The breed of dog chosen for therapy training is not nearly as important as it’s personal traits. If your dog possesses a suitable temperament which radiances a warm, calm, friendly demeanor, then it should not be a problem.

Recommendations:

Golden Retrievers have been long thought to be good dog breeds for doing therapy work. Their friendly nature makes them unlikely to show aggression. Golden Retrievers are predominantly cherished for their high level of sociability towards people and keenness to learn. This makes them a good candidate for relationship-based obedience training.

Schnauzers are an extremely popular breed of dogs and are not aggressive by nature. Because of their conformity, willingness to please and cute appearance, they are one of the top candidates for Therapy Dog Training.

German Shepherds are intelligent, agile and well-suited to be working dogs. They enjoy being around people, other animals and are very willing to protect young children. German Shepherds Dogs are among the top breeds to consider for obedience and Therapy dog Training.

With an inquisitive, affectionate and gentle temperament, a Siberian Husky makes a good contender for therapist training. They also fall under the classification of a Working breed which are often relatively gentle with children; Siberians will make a good family pet.

The Shetland Sheepdog (or Sheltie) does an exceptional job as companion dog. It is deeply loyal, affectionate and very trainable willing worker. The Sheltie is also One of the top obedience competition breeds of dogs.

“Therapy Dog Supplies Basics”

The are certain items that a therapy dog needs in order to perform his service.

1) Therapy Dog Vests or ID Capes

Therapy Dog Vests are typically plain and depending on your dog breed, it can cost you anywhere between $20-$40. Therapy Dog Vests come in all sorts of colors and sizes and are usually made of a nylon type material.

2) The are many types of Therapy Dog Patches to choose from.

Usually, medical institutions and centers are not so particular about the types and colors of Therapy Patches and vest that you use. However, it is highly inappropriate for an unregistered therapy dog to wear a Therapy Vest until it is fully registered, unless they use embroidered patches which indicates "in training" or "training in progress" on the vest.

You can purchase your Therapy Dog Vests and Therapy Dog Patches separately from website like (raspberryfield.com) and (lonewolfdogwear.com).

3) Therapy Dog ID Tag

While in Training, all Therapy Dogs must wear their “In-Training” ID tags on all accompanied visitations. A Therapy Dog ID tag are usually provided along with their certification upon training completion. You cannot buy these ID tags from websites and stores. If they get lost, you must report them to your respective pet organization for a replacement.

4) Foldable Camp Chair

Chairs can be useful for outdoors and field purposes. When working, you could set the chair up for your dog beside the patient's bed to get to their eye level. Some patients many be a little uncomfortable in the presence of dogs and not all patients will allow dogs on their beds. A foldable chair will be good for giving animal to person distance.

5) Leashes

Nylon and Fabric leashes are the preferred as they are washable after every visit. You would also want to purchase a leash which is no longer than 4 feet in length as required by some dog therapy organizations. Often, therapy handlers own a set of various leashes for different places, occasions and holidays.