Read on to learn how to best prepare your pooch for the therapy dog certification process.
Anyone who’s spent more than five minutes with a dog can understand why they can make good therapy pets. The mere presence of canines has been proven to help people experiencing physical or emotional pain. While interacting with a dog, hormones like serotonin and oxytocin are released into your brain, which can in turn elevate your mood. Our best friends can also lower blood pressure (Trusted Source), encourage exercise, and help children with social development.
So what makes therapy dogs unique, and how does one go about getting their pup certified? While there are several organizations you can bring your dog to to have them registered as a therapy pet, you’ll want to first make sure that they complete the proper therapy dog training and meet the specific requirements of the facilities you plan to visit.
Therapy dogs have become increasingly popular in the United States, with over 50,000 certified dogs across the country. They provide comfort and affection towards groups or individuals experiencing mental or physical health problems such as anxiety, grief, or injury rehabilitation. They’ve been deployed to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and elsewhere to help people take their minds off their struggles.
Certified therapy dogs shouldn’t be confused with service dogs, who have been trained to aid their owners with specific disabilities, such as epilepsy, diabetes, or visual impairment. Through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), service animals are allowed to go anywhere their handler needs, including airports, restaurants, and other businesses, while therapy pets are more limited in where they’re allowed, and this will vary by individual facility. Therapy dogs also differ from emotional support animals, who are intended to offer companionship to their owners and keep them calm.
Owners looking to undergo therapy dog certification need to understand that the qualifications of a therapy pet will not be the same as that of a service pet trained to carry out a specific task or tasks. Here are traits most therapy dog certifying organizations will look for:
You may be wondering if breed plays a role in which dogs can be certified as therapy pets. Organizations typically don’t have breed requirements in their certification process, as any purebred or mixed-breed dog can become a therapy pet with the right amount of training. That said, some breeds are more popular than others when it comes to this role due to their typical temperament, outgoingness, and affection.
Dogs are the most commonly used animal in the pet therapy world, but other species have also been tapped to perform this important work. Other types of therapy pets include:
From rewarding volunteer work to forging a strong canine-human bond, there are many reasons why you may want to form a therapy dog team. While the actual registration can be fairly simple, preparing for it can take some time and effort, so patience is key. Here are four steps owners will want to undergo for therapy dog certification:
So now you’ve got a certified therapy dog. Hooray! But before you start throwing your dog into all kinds of different situations, it’s important to remember to start slow. Test the waters with friends or family members first before taking your dog to more formal therapy sessions at a healthcare or education facility. Bringing your dog into what could be an overwhelming situation, such as a bustling hospital or school full of young, loud kids, before they’re ready may cause more harm than good.
When you do feel your pup is ready for a traditional therapy pet visit, you can start by researching the organization you used to get certified. Many of these groups provide databases of facilities and can pair you and your dog up with the right people based on your furbaby’s experience.
Volunteers are typically covered by a pet therapy organization’s liability insurance. We don’t recommend working independently without this kind of coverage, so be sure to do your homework if you choose to work with your therapy dog solo.
Despite all of the benefits that therapy dogs have to offer both owners and the people they help, there are some risks associated with the practice that you’ll want to be aware of. The environments you are bringing them in aren’t exactly designed for hosting pets, so it’s important to stay vigilant in protecting your furry friend and others.
You may be reading this from the perspective of someone looking to invite a therapy dog to their facility, in which case there are certain considerations you’ll want to keep in mind ahead of time. Here are tips and best practices for the visit.
Therapy dogs in schools can perform wonders. They relieve students’ stress, help kids learn, and even boost test scores and attendance. It’s important, however, to have someone running the program who understands the risk and stress levels for the dogs. For starters, parental permission should be acquired for each child to interact with the therapy dog.
Administrators should also take proactive steps if students are afraid of dogs or have allergies. At the same time, educators should be planning what activities the therapy dogs will be involved in and the best area to do it.
For a hospital patient, a visit from a furry companion can raise spirits, reduce anxiety and depression, improve cooperation with treatment, and even lessen pain.
Dr. Rekha Murthy, a medical director in the epidemiology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and her team came up with a set of recommendations for pet therapy in healthcare facilities. The guidelines include developing safety protocols, designating one person to oversee the program (typically someone from their volunteer services department), and documenting all animal visits to make it easier to track outcomes.
There are two common ways to introduce pets in a nursing home. The first is a live-in pet (or pets) to share among residents (cats are popular choices in these cases). The other method involves outside certified therapy pets coming in with their owners.
Planning to bring therapy pets into a nursing home is similar to when bringing them into a school. Having a game plan in place before the visit can solve a lot of stress and problems before they even occur. Learn which residents would or would not want a visit from the animal, what group activities the residents could do with them, and if there are any allergy or fear concerns among the residents.
👉 Interested in getting a visit from a certified therapy dog? Take a look at the AKC’s list of programs (Trusted Source) to get more information on scheduling a visit for your facility.
It is important to note that therapy pets are not considered service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They have no guaranteed rights to enter animal-restricted areas such as grocery stores or public transportation and are only allowed where they have been invited to visit.
If you attempt to take your therapy dog with you to a school, hospital, or other facility and are asked to leave, you must oblige their request. To prevent this from happening to you, you should always call your destination ahead of time and see if they’ll allow your therapy pet to accompany you, or go through a pet therapy organization that can arrange it for you. If you are organizing your own pet therapy event or meeting, stick to public places where all pets are allowed, regardless of their certification.
With their sweet demeanors and sensitivities to human emotions, dogs have not only become a welcomed part of the pet therapy world but perhaps the most popular ones. Getting your pet properly certified as a therapy dog is the first step towards spreading the joy of their presence to people who need comfort, affection, and distraction from what they’re dealing with.
To train your dog for therapy certification, focus on positive behaviors like gentle play and remaining relaxed in stressful situations. You’ll also want to expose them to distractions like something falling or breaking and teach them to remain calm in those situations.
No, a therapy dog is intended to provide relief through comfort and affection to people besides their owners that are experiencing physical or emotional pain. Service dogs, on the other hand, are trained to aid their owners in their disabilities, such as seizure disorders, diabetes, PTSD, and visual impairment.
To be a certified therapy pet, your dog must exhibit proper obedience training and the appropriate temperament for dealing with children, the elderly, or people experiencing physical or mental issues. Passing the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizens test can go a long way in getting your dog certified.
The American Kennel Club has a database of pet therapy organizations in your area that can certify your dog as a therapy pet.
As with any training, patience and consistency are key. Focus on qualities like calm interactions with strangers, walking on a loose leash, and good recall.
