What It Takes

If you are interested in becoming a working therapy dog team, here are some things you need to know.

A therapy dog can come in all shapes, sizes, and breed. However, a therapy dog must be well-trained, love spending time with people and show a bond with their handler. To determine which dog is appropriate for this, most therapy organizations have their own version of therapy training and testing that the pet must go through before interacting with people and being recognized as a working therapy dog. Below is the training outline for a Paws 4 Hearts working therapy team.

Evaluation and Training

• Your dog must be at least 1 year of age to be certified as a therapy dog. If your dog is younger, you may start the obedience training, then complete the therapy training and testing once the dog reaches the age requirement.
•  All humans must be 18 years of age or older to be part of a working therapy dog team.

At evaluation, your dog must demonstrate:

• friendliness with people by allowing a stranger to approach and touch him/her
• basic obedience skills such as sit, down, here, and stay
• polite leash skills
• acceptance of other dogs
• polite response to distractions such as loud noises

• Depending on what training your dog has had and the evaluation, your dog could need to go through 4-6 weeks of positive obedience training that is geared for therapy work.
• Once you pass the obedience training, you will attend on-hands therapy training which includes HIPPA rules on visiting, how to approach a child, soldier, and or patient. How to safely handle your dog around others and challenges.
• Upon completion of the therapy training, you and your dog will be tested on the obedience and therapy skills you just learned. You are scored on your ability to control and guide the people dealing with your animal and how easily you work with your dog and those that you will be visiting. You will also be required to attend a 1/2day class on how to set up visits, P4H rules and policies.
• If you and your dog pass these skills, you are ready to begin therapy work with our group. You will be mentored to visit hospitals, assisted living homes, libraries, military faciltiies, and other P4H approved organizations.

After Certification

• Therapy work is very rewarding. It is quite a unique experience to give back and help others by allowing them to experience the bond between you and your dog.
• P4H requires a minimum number of required visits to maintain active status as working therapy team.
• Every therapy team recertifies yearly to ensure our teams maintain our elite status.

For any additional questions or info, please contact us.