Therapy dogs

[chloelove]

So I was wondering if any of you guys on here have considered using your dog for therapy. Last night I visited the hospital where they held an event and i was so interested. My yorkie is quite calm and even nervous in public, strange i hear, but she is a great dog and I think many elders and young children would love her and make their day by her visiting. If you guys have heard of it please post below if the training is hard at all and expensive. That part I had to figure out on my own which I havent started the research on quite yet. I look foward to hearing from you guys, enjoy your little ones!

[boopster]

If you'll search here, you will find several good threads with pointers to a couple of legit organizations for therapy dogs. It's something I would like to do some day but I don't know if Tallulah has the right temperament for that kind of activity. It's early days with her so we'll see.

If you do go into some type of therapy dog training, I hope you'll share your experiences with us.

[salazark]

I'm taking obedience classes with mine with that eventual goal. The group I'm with is associated with Delta Society. There's quite a bit of training and testing that goes into it. They also have to be two years old to be considered. You might want to look in the training or obedience forums. There may be more information there.

[Tinksmygirl]

I haven't done this as part of any offical organization, but I have been taking Tinkerbell to the nursing home where my mom lives on a weekly basis. Tink has the perfect personality for this and because I have taken her since she was 13-14 weeks old she is very calm and used to all the sights, sounds, and smells. Everyone there loves her and I am not allowed to come without her anymore. I know many of the residents look forward to our visits.

[Saeka]

I really want to get my yorkie her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certification just for this. I'd really like to start taking her to nursing homes and I know there are a couple groups that do it in my area. I work at Petsmart and both of our trainers are CGC certified so they can help you get through beginner to advanced classes, then help you prep for the final task. It's tough, but I think it would be incredible to complete it.

[artie merlino]

I have been taking/visiting/using my 3 Yorkies to a Local Senior/Retirement Home since September. They are 7,6, and 4 yrs. old so they are very calm and mature. I am in Myrtle Beach, SC and they do NOT require any kind of Certification or proof of Training........I did have to show proof of "Rabies" vaccinations and I had to take a TB. Test that was provided by them, since I am in contact with the Public. I took a Tour of the Facilities w/them and did a verbal Interview w/the Recreation Director. I never got an oppurtunity to Train them ahead of time, so I had to wing it.........Luckily they have the right Temperment/Patience and were very Socialized and already Trained as far as Basic Commands and House Trained! We did pass her Test with Flying Colors, I am very proud to use all 3 at once together as a Team. They always get along and show nothing but Love for each other, it probablly helps that they are related; Father, Mother and their Daughter.
They have to be Quiet, they cannot Bark or Jump up on the Person.
Otherwise they might get their feelings hurt or offended.
You have to always ask their permission......not everyone is a Dog Lover.
Sometimes the Patients just are'nt in the mood to have Visitors.
Make sure you take them for a Walk and they have gone Potty before their Visit.......there is nothing more embarassing then an Accident!
Plus the smell of "URINE" is all over the place. On the Floors, all over the Carpets, Bed pans are on the Floor too. Otherwise they will be "Marking"!
You must also Train them NOT to eat anything off the Floors, they drop Food
everywhere in their Rooms......the common areas; Lobbies, Nursing Stations
and Recreation Area's are very Clean.
You must also Train them NOT to eat any Human Food from the Patients, even if it is offered to them, Yes....you have to have that much CONTROL over them! Not to mention I had to learn the Rules too!
I never make them Volunteer longer than an Hour at a time, anything longer than that starts to drain their Energy, their max is an Hour and 30 min. otherwise they start getting tired and grumpy! Usually 3 times a week.
You have to Train them to be calm around moving Wheelchairs, Hospital Equiptment, oxygen tanks, walkers, canes, even cleaning equiptment, brooms,
mops, vacuum cleaners, Janitor's making noises? Patient's screaming or crying or throwing Tantrums? They cannot jump or bark every time they hear or see something, they have to Trust you enough so they can actually DO the Therapy work, does that make sense? The Staff, the Nurses and all the Patients Love them. If I had the time and money I would be there 24/7.
I encourage anyone with an Interest to at least try it, do the Research that applies to your State and pursue it. It is very rewarding for everyone involved. I procrastinated for years and wasted alot of time b/c I thought I could'nt do it without getting "Certified". Just do it you'll Love it too! I hope this Helps?

[chloelove]

Thanks so much for your replies, I understand it will be difficult, Chloe is still very very little and is in training for other stuff, but it was so just so so wonderful to see how much dogs have an effect on little and elders ones

[gram2k]

Glad I stumbled upon this thread, as I too have been seriously considering taking my Chloe around to nursing homes and hospitals.

I am recently separated and Chloe has become my saviour as I navigate my way to a new life. That includes volunteering....so I can "get outside of myself" and help others. Helps take the focus off my own situation. That led me to thinking about training her to become a therapy dog. She's a tiny #5 lb. ball of cuteness. Everyone that knows her loves her, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, by sharing her with others while volunteering. Good for both of us and a win-win situation....

Chloe is just over 1 year old now. She had completed her dog training last summer. She still needs to work on some of her skills and I'm unsure of how she would react in a nursing home setting. I also wonder if, being as energetic as they are, if this breed makes a good therapy dog? Right now I am working on her NOT jumping, loving, kissing and tail wagging her way up to people when she see's them. I'm not sure if I can train this out of her, or it's just her personality.

I love this idea...and all of us that love this breed can understand what they do have to offer others!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Saeka

I really want to get my yorkie her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) certification just for this. I'd really like to start taking her to nursing homes and I know there are a couple groups that do it in my area. I work at Petsmart and both of our trainers are CGC certified so they can help you get through beginner to advanced classes, then help you prep for the final task. It's tough, but I think it would be incredible to complete it.

They need their TDI to be a therapy dog. The CGC is just the starting step. But a dog CGC certified can not go into hospitals.

I am working on getting Jackson his CGC but I'm not sure if he's therapy dog material yet, so we'll decide if we go for that later on.

I think it's an awesome thing and I know if I were stuck in a hospital, I'd love the company of dogs!

[chloelove]

gram2k that is so great! Good for you,its hard being seperated but having her makes things better, I hope things work out with her training my chloe hasnt started any training yet, shes only 5 months old but im deff looking into it and when would be a good time

[bellemarie]

with my next little one i'm going to train her from day one to be a therapy dog... taking her through obedience classes from puppy to champion (and hopefully getting the certificates)
the reason for this is that my mum works in a special needs school (for auditory and visually impaired as well as other special needs) and when kuki and bambi were little i took them in for the first time. one of the completely blind girls who had never felt (or seen since she was born blind) what a dog looks like, was asked by her teacher what a dog was like- her answer was it 'has 5 legs a head and is purple like my guinea pig'. another of the girls was soo scared of the idea of holding an animal it was upsetting to watch her panic about it, but she sat beside another girl who had kuki on her knee and eventually got the confidence to pet her, then hold her, then brush her... to the best of my knowledge she now has a spaniel who is her best friend.
seeing that change in such a short amount of time was incredible- but bambi gets bored easily and kuki is a little timid with loud noises because i didnt have her in those settings often enough when little, so that unfortunately that rules them out, but the next one will be trained and conditioned from a few weeks old- with visual and auditory commands so the deaf children can play with her and get her to do tricks!
so many of the kids in that school have such bad communication (and eye contact) skills when they arrive the best thing in the world for them would be a cute little dog to get the conversations going... her name will have to be something easy to sign though, i can't wait for all this to get going!!
everyone should get to share the wonders of these awesome dogs!!!!

[alaskayorkie]

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.