What is a Pet Therapy Dog?
A therapy dog begins as a loved and well-cared for pet that finds it has a calling in life to help others. These special canines are trained to give affection and comfort to anyone in need.
They are comfortable in a variety of settings and with a variety of people. Therapy dogs come in all sizes and breeds. Some of the facilities visited by therapy dogs include nursing homes, hospices, hospitals, elementary schools, grief camps, cancer camps and orphan homes.
Pet therapy is a guided interaction between an individual and a trained animal. It also involves the animal’s handler. The purpose of pet therapy is to help a patient recover from or cope with a health problem or a mental disorder. Pet therapy also is called animal-assisted therapy (AAT).
At Training Your Best Friend, we help your dog become a certified therapy dog through real life training at a Nursing Home as required by Love on A Leash. This gives your dog the perfect place to solidify training and afford you the opportunity for taking your dog to various locations when they are certified.
This ten-week Pet Therapy Course is for adult dogs who have the prerequisite AKC Canine Good Citizen certification. If your dog absolutely lives to be petted, guess what? Your dog might be a great candidate to give joy to the elderly in nursing homes or kids in hospitals or schools. The class prepares you to test for your pet therapy certification so you can visit nursing homes, hospitals, Libraries and Schools with a well-behaved canine that you can be proud of. We will administer the test and send in the results to “Love On A Leash” They will mail you your certificate.
During this course you will learn the purpose of therapy dogs and what they do. You will learn what situations could occur while making visits. You’ll practice control and greeting exercises in real life situations that are helpful in making visits successful and enjoyable. T
Having a dog trained to be a therapy dog is one of the most rewarding feelings for you, your dog and the community! Think of all of the good you and your dog could do by giving back to the community by spending time with kids in a hospital, soldiers and veterans who have come back home and need some healing energy, bringing a smile to folks in a retirement community who love to talk about fond memories when they had a dog and even having your dog help a child in a school gain the confidence to read!
Using your dog for pet therapy is a wonderful opportunity to bring joy and unconditional love to the elderly and physically infirmed. This is equally a rewarding experience for you.
Where is Pet Therapy offered?
Pet therapy is being used in nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, hospice care and other homes/ patient care to provide a source of positive interaction for recovering and terminally ill patients.
What Makes a good therapy dog?
First – the dog must be social and exhibit a calm temperament. Dogs used in pet therapy must possess basic obedience skills. The dog must be trained to accept different types of petting and handling and be comfortable with people in wheel chairs, crutches and hospital beds.
How we train your dog for pet therapy?
Possible scenarios are enacted out with the trainer to expose the dog to different situations. Appropriate responses are taught to the dog to prevent him from panicking when he faces a real situation.
Dogs who do not know how to react will show either a fight or flight response. Your dog will learn to behave normally when he meets patients and accept the circumstances as normal.
At the end of the training session, your dog will be tested for his responses and behavior in a real life situation. A certificate will be awarded to the dog qualifying him to be used for pet therapy.
Cost: $225.00
You must complete a total of 10-week session/ one-hour visits. five visits are completed on your own or as a group as required by Love On A Leash.
This class involves training out in the field for real life situations.
Class Schedule: Sunday, January 12 (3:30 pm-4:30 pm)
First class is orientation without the Dogs held at Hollywood Feed Pet Store ( Community Room). 9660 Falls of the Neuse Road Raleigh 27615
Location: Springmoor Retirement Community
1500 Sawmill Rd. Raleigh 27615
Location: Springmoor Retirement Community
1500 Sawmill Road Raleigh 27615
