Therapy Dog Q&A
Dear Jan,
I really enjoyed the article about
you and your new puppy. I have been taking Flurry to visit
my mother-in-law in a local nursing home. She has been really
well behaved and seems to be enjoying it (both Mom and the dog).
I took a look at the Therapy Dogs website, but I am still a
little confused as to how much training my dog needs to do this
kind of "work". She is a family pet, a Portugese Water Dog. She
has had 2 obedience classes, a clicker training class, and a
beginning agility class. Since she is much more agile than I,
the therapy work sounds interesting. The test on the site seems
to be almost like the Canine Good Citizen test that I think is a
part of the AKC obedience program. Can you give me any advice on
what she
needs to be able to do to be a successful therapy dog?
Sincerely,
Natalie
Dear Natalie,
http://www.drpaws.org/ is
the website for info on testers for TDInc in Southeastern
Michigan. I opted for TDInc because testing was readily
available. There is a common thread in the requirements for
the three therapy organizations: basic obedience and good
behavior. Canine Good Citizenship covers the basics.
To be a successful therapy dog, in addition to basic good
behavior, here are some characteristics which are needed:
- LOVE people -- therapy dogs
meet lots and lots and lots of new people every visit.
Successful therapy dogs don't JUST 'tolerate' this....they
thrive on it. They love meeting people. They love being patted
and touched. They have outgoing personalities. A dog who sits
and 'tolerates' it may get burnout after a while. A dog who
LOVES it will look forward to each visit.
- BE ABLE TO ADJUST TO NEW
THINGS!!!!! Therapy dogs encounter new situations in almost
every visit. They should not be timid or afraid of new things.
There always seems to be some new 'medical thingy' in the
hallway or a patient's room.
- REALLY BE FOCUSED ON THEIR
HANDLER WHEN NECESSARY. There are patients who sometimes try
to feed the dog or 'entice' the dog. There are people who have
tried to offer Arielle their own food...once someone literally
chased us in a wheelchair with crackers and cheese. I carry
treats for Arielle and I explain that she is on a special
diet......I rely on Arielle to take her cues from me when
necessary. That includes following my lead if we have to get
out of tight spaces...literally!!!! There have been times when
we have been completely surrounded by people in wheelchairs.
In an hour visit, we see between 50 and 100 people, sometimes
as many as 20 at a time in a common area. It takes a confident
dog to do this and one who knows that their human will be sure
no one accidentally runs over them with a wheelchair. BTW,
there is one fellow who is in a wheelchair and is constantly
trying to get Arielle to 'climb' into his lap.....Arielle
weighs over 100 pounds...She looks at him and then at me and
she sits on the floor....
- HAVE A TEAM-MATE (that's
you.....) WHO ENJOYS THIS WORK TOO. The 'magic' that the dogs
do is very special but you are also part of the team. I keep a
close eye on things especially in the Alzheimers ward, to be sure no one pulls Arielle's ears or is too rough
without meaning to be.
To answer the 'what does she need to be able to do' question:
- Walk on a loose leash around
obstacles and on a variety of floor coverings
- Sit and down with stays
- Stand stay (great when
people are in bed)
- IGNORE other dogs
- Leave it (dinner trays are
sometimes left out on chairs.....)
- Ride in an elevator
The rest just happens: people pat
your dog and feel better.....and YOU feel better too because you
know you are helping make the world a better place. I could talk
about therapy dog work for hours....if
you have any more questions, please email me and I will try to
help. If your dog wants to do this work and you decide to do it,
you will have the most incredible experiences....
Best wishes,
Jan and Arielle (who says I should also mention that Arielle
gets ice
cream at the Dairy Queen after every therapy visit....and your
dog
might like this also as long as they are not lactose
intolerant....)
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