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Originally Posted by Jkpal  Congratulations! You obviously have a very loving and generous family (two & four legged, of course); very inspiring! May I ask, what is required of one's dog in order to have it certified? I assume a lot would be the dog's natural characteristics (i.e. calm, social, etc)...Did you have to pass a test of some sort? I'm sorry--I mainly wanted say congratulations and to express my gratitude for your generosity of spirit. |
This is what I wrote to another who asked the same question in a PM. Hope it helps. If I'm not clear in any way, please let me know. I do tend to ramble on and on.
It's good to hear that your daughter wants to train her dog to become a therapy dog. It is easier to become a therapy dog than it is to become a service dog since therapy dogs are just companions, there to make people feel better. The "therapy" is mental only. As a result, therapy dogs are not entitled to the privileges that service dogs have (going to grocery stores, restaurants, etc.). Therapy dogs have to be invited into a facility. There are many different organizations that certify therapy dogs. They do the training and testing, but most of them require that you find your own gig, contacting local facilities to see if you can go visit. I am fortunate to have a local organization that does full service, including pre-arranged visitations for anyone to join, and liability insurance on each member.
Sorry, I went off topic. Anyway, different organizations have different requirements. In a nutshell, your daughter's dog needs to first pass the CGC test (Canine Good Citizen). The CGC training can be done by any dog training. Usually if you take a beginning obedience class and an intermediate class, your dog will probably be ready to test the CGC test. The CGC is like a title for the dog. If her dog has papers, she can submit the CGC certification to AKC and they will add "Dog Name, CGC" to his name, almost like a title for humans. Once the dog has CGC, then she can look into places that train Therapy Dogs. Some of them offer online training if she can't find location that is close. Some personal trainers do TD training but you'll have to get tested by an TD organization on your own. It is usually about 6-8 weeks for beginning class, 6-8 weeks for intermediate class, and 8-10 weeks for Therapy Dog class.
Therapy Dogs are a special breed. An excellent CGC dog may not be suited to become a TD. Part of the TD training even require that the dog be roughed up a bit to see if he/she retaliates. The reason is that some kids or elders do not have full control of their mobility skills and may be a little rough on the dog. Owners need to remember that the dog did not ask to be a TD, and may not like the "job". For example, my Mocha is always the submissive one when he meets another dog. He lets other dogs walk all over him and he is used to kids pulling on his hair. That's why he's perfect for therapy dog. The TD training also includes getting comfortable around wheelchairs and canes, loud noises, not picking up food on the floor (which happens a lot in hospitals and assisted living facilities), allowing strangers to hold/pet for long time, etc. Your daughter needs to check her dog's temperament to make sure he or she is calm enough to be TD before spending too much $$ on all the training. I wish her the best of luck and hope she succeeds. We do need more TD's. Part of Mocha's training are actual visits to assisted living facilities. It is amazing what a difference he can make. Even those who can't talk their eyes lit up when seeing him. It is amazing. I also heard about a lot of success stores at the library. Kids are sometimes embarrassed to read to adults but they love reading to dogs.