There is nothing like the feeling you experience when you see your dog bring joy, love and happiness to a child or adult in need. Dogs have that beautiful, wonderful ability to communicate without words, to aid in therapy and rehabilitation and to fill a lonely life with love and companionship.
We offer classes specifically designed for training Therapy Dogs, as do several other organizations. Here’s what makes our classes unique: our instructors and certified Therapy Dog handlers LOVE therapy work so much that we take therapy dog training seriously. We know the hospital and nursing home environment and we know how careful and controlled the dogs must be around expensive monitoring equipment and potentially fragile people. We realize that not all patients – or administrators – are comfortable around dogs, so every dog that enters the therapy setting makes a long-lasting impression on every person it meets.
The class covers skills needed to pass the Pet Partners(Delta Society), Reading with Rover, Therapy Dogs International, and the Alliance of Therapy Dogs (Therapy Dogs Inc.) Therapy Dog Tests. Our Therapy Dog classes with Mary Stratton meet the requirement of the Reading with Rover program and is on their approved list of classes.
Therapy Dog Prep class is open to dog/handler teams who have successfully completed Advanced Home Obedience or have instructor permission. Dogs should have basic obedience skills and a desire to interact with people.
Bring dogs and current training equipment the first week.
If you’re interested in a Therapy Dog Prep class and we don’t have any available classes on the schedule, please fill out the wait list.