Eddie's been a certified therapy dog through the Delta Society (
Delta Society - Improving lives through Therapy, Service & Companion animals) for a couple years now. We started out visiting an assisted living home and recently added visits to the adolescent mental health unit. He's very popular.
One of our local hospitals, Providence Alaska Medical Center, has a therapy dog program, and they helped a lot in getting us certified. You might check some of your local hospitals and see if they have a program. While you don't HAVE to go through a specific hospital to get certified, sometimes it's nice to have an intermediary to help you with the certification process. And then once you get certified, you can often work right through the hospital. Otherwise, you have to approach hospitals on your own to get permission to visit. The certification alone is not enough.
Here's how we went about it:
* Eddie took several obedience classes and passed his CGC, which let me know he had what it takes to do the work. He came when called, didn't pull on his leash badly, didn't get startled much around wheelchairs and walkers, etc., and showed no aggression toward people.
* We attended a weekend seminar at the hospital that explained just what the work entails and taught us how to apply to Delta Society.
* The hospital then let us know when the next Delta Society test was coming up and went over the test in advance so we wouldn't be surprised.
* The Delta Society test costs about $10 and is about a 20-exercise test that takes 20-30 minutes. Little-dog owners can opt to choose testing where you get to carry your dog through many of the exercises. Here are the two stages of the test (you can also find them on the delta site):
http://www.deltasociety.org/Document.Doc?id=2 http://www.deltasociety.org/Document.Doc?id=1
* Then you have to fill out reams of paperwork. Expenses are minimal. I think the priciest thing was buying a vest for the dog.
* Lastly, you have to recertify every two years, i.e., take the test again and fill out new paperwork.
The other big certifier is Therapy Dogs International, but I'm not familiar with their testing.
It all seems a little overwhelming at first, but no one rushes you and you can take it at your own pace. And it doesn't take an obedience champion to pass the test. Rabbits and cats cat be certified, too. They're just trying to find mellow animals that aren't going to hurt anybody or cause a ruckus.