Therapy Dog Training?

Question

I want to have my dog trained as a therapy dog. Not a service dog. I want to take with me to provide love and comfort to disaster victims. I'm looking for a trainer or school preferably around middle Tennessee.

Answer 1

Google is a wonderful, magical thing. :)

Answer 2

The three big therapy dog programs are:

The Delta Society (http://www.deltasociety.org)

Therapy Dogs International (http://www.tdi-dog.org)

Therapy Dogs, Inc. (http://www.therapydogs.org)

Contact those organizations for a class and evaluation near you.  Your dog will need certain skills in order to pass the tests.  If a therapy class is not available locally, try taking a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) class or beginning dog obedience class.  Therapy dog tests are a little more involved than the CGC test, but it will get you started in the right direction.

Along with credentials, certification gets you much needed liability insurance.

Volunteering as a pet therapy team can be very rewarding to both partners in the team.  Good luck!

Answer 3

I think you are doing a great thing by wanting to train your dog. Good Luck.

Answer 4

Nashville Dog Training Club meets near the zoo or at least they used to when we lived in Nashville a few years ago.  I took one of my dogs through the Therapy Dog training classes- we intended on doing work w. stroke patients.  The instructors were wonderful.  My dog (unfortunately) was not emotionally ready to handle the atmosphere but I was allowed to continue to bring him to class to practice even though I knew we were not taking the "final exam."

Good Luck and what a wonderful experience for both of you!

Answer 5

First thing you need to do is train your dog to an advanced level obedience get your guys canine good citizen cert and contact a local therapy dog club, take your dog into skilled nursing facilities and hospitals and work your way up to the disaster therapy work.