Therapy dog certification?

Monday May 25th, 2009

Question:

Does my dog need to pass a test to be able to participate in animal assisted therapy?

Answer:

That depends on where you might be interested in visiting with your dog.

Larger facilities, like hospitals, with concerns about liability and safety issues, as well as infection control, have greater needs for standards of visiting pet programs. They may establish protocols that include testing to acquire liability insurance through organizations like TDI (Therapy Dog International) or Delta Society's Pet Partner Program (not limited to dogs). The testing is usually based on the Canine Good Citizenship Test which is a set of ten different elements designed to define what it means to be a well-behaved animal.

Just passing the test, however, is not necessarily the indicator that a dog is well suited for the challenges of therapy dog work, but it is certainly a good first step. That being said, some places like nursing homes or senior centers welcome visits from those with well behaved pets without benefit of testing. But, it's always a good idea to make sure the dog has a minimum standard of behavior and socialization so the visit is neither too stressful nor puts either the dog or any people at risk for inappropriate behavior.

Therapy visits may not appear to be hard work, but it can be exhausting. If you plan to visit a nursing home with your dog on your own, keep the visits to 45 minutes or less and see how your dog does.

Rachel Friedman has worked with both people and animals for more than 25 years. In 1999, she founded her company, A Better Pet LLC.

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I've taken the Delta Society workshop and it was really helpful, to pass the evaluation to be registered with them. Found it provided great training for visits. I also like that they require teams pass an evaluation every 2 years - helps keep high standards and will be nice to have another person help me identify when my dog may be getting too old to enjoy this work - as I'm afraid I won't spot it as love visiting with him.

about 2 years ago by Anonymous

I went through Delta training years ago and am working through Therapy Dog International now. I'm finding the latter has much more extensive training. My dog is coming to all classes with me and us taking the final test in an actual facility. Therefore, my own personal recommendation is to go through Therapy Dog Int'l. I'd recommend going to the Delta website, however, and incorporate their dog tests with ones training. Yes, I see both are based on Canine Good Citizen. I'd never recommend any animal (no matter how well behaved) going into any facility - certification required or not - without being insured! Hence, a very good reason to go through one or the other training.

over 2 years ago by Anonymous

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