Hey everyone just needing some advice. Have just started the obedience training with, hopefully, my future therapy dog. However he seems to get IBS symptoms from the stress of training. Do you think if I stay consistent he will become desensitised to it or do I stop training and accept he's not right for the job?

About a year and a half ago, I was having a conversation with someone while her dog (who is trained as a therapy dog) was around. About halfway into our conversation, she asked me, "Have you had a hard day?" because the dog kept wanting to be close to me. She said that, where she takes the dog for therapy work, the dog always moves toward the kids who are having a hard time that day.

I really wasn't having a bad day... and I think I was having a pretty good week in general. However, if look back at that time period in my life, I think I was burnt out and grieving in general (though I was only partially aware of that at the time). Can therapy dogs "smell" that on me or something? What did the dog know that I didn't?

Happy National Therapy Dog Appreciation Day!

My baby-girl just got her AKC CGC, and so we aren't there yet. We have been practicing in the same 6 locations (Home Depot, Lowe's, Michael's, several different pet stores, and in front of the entrances to a couple places that have tons of foot traffic, but that we couldn't enter because they don't allow dogs.)

The thing is though, the therapy dog assessment we will be doing will have us testing at nursing homes and hospitals. So how do I practice for these locations? Or maybe there isn't a way? Thanks!

EDIT: I appreciate these responses! I am going to just attempt assessment despite having never gone to those settings before. We'll see how it goes!

My Aussie and I are a certified therapy dog team. I know the differences between service dogs, ESA’s, and therapy dog teams.

Background: I’m in my mid to late 20’s and in 2021 was not planning on getting a dog (he) but my best friend’s family in laws thought I would be a good dog owner. I only agreed if they thought he would make it as a therapy dog (team) and they agreed. This is the first dog I’ve ever owned, I’ve only been a petsitter before this.

I got him, spent tons of time training and socializing him. We got his AKC CGC at 6 months and tested with Pet Partners when he was 1 year old. He passed all of the items except for one (walked behind me) which was an automatic fail. I was super happy and sad at the same time. He’s an absolute gem of a dog.

During this time I was career transitioning along with life things so we spent a lot of time going to the beach, hiking, and doing dog things in between my transition. I finally got a decent job at the end of last year, and during that time moved to an apartment in an area I really like while he stayed with my friend as I got settled. He’s three now and we’re a certified therapy dog team with an organization based in our state. We’ve volunteered at senior homes, memory care homes and planning on testing out different places to see what he likes.

With my apartment complex, I signed a new lease recently and they added in the pet deposit + rent. I definitely yearn for a house with a yard but the houses in the area are too expensive or would be at least 50-75% of my monthly income so I’m trying to save as much as I can. I’ve lived in multiple parts of the state already, along with other states and this area I’m currently in is the one I like best in terms of safety + accessibility.

I definitely don’t expect anything or want anything for volunteering as a therapy dog team but it makes me sad because the additional monthly pet rent and deposit could go towards a house but financially makes the process even longer. There’s so many fake paperwork or online ‘certifications’ that people can lie about along with no dog training to not have the pet deposit/ monthly rent (not speaking for people who do have the need).

Why does it feel like the people who care about others and want to make an impact have to put in 150% emotionally, mentally, and financially to be able to continue living a decent life and help others?

My mother is a handler and got her dog certified as a therapy dog in New York with TDI. She's having a time with getting liability insurance for him because apparently TDI doesn't give it? They said that she needs to get her own. She tried contacting them but they said they won't get back to her. Any recommendations on where to get liability insurance? Thanks!

We just got a corgi puppy and I want to start the process of him training to be a therapy dog. However, I looked up some places out here and all of them say that you have to be nationally registered as a therapy animal team. Which is fine, but upon googling everything I’ve read said this isn’t a real thing and you don’t need to be registered? Just that you need to do X amount of visits. Is this true? I’ve found close to nothing helpful or understandable on Google about this. Please help 😅

Hi all,

We are currently training our 7 month old puppy with the goal to become a therapy dog. I'd like to start getting her used to all kinds of different environments, so I am curious where I'm able to take her as she's training?

We visit Joann, Cabela's, Home Depot/Lowes, but realizing she's never been in an elevator before. Any other suggestions of places we can or should go?

I had my first interaction with therapy dogs recently and while I never thought I'd "get" to interact with one, I always suspected they were magic when I saw them on social media. Now I can confirm they are.

My school went on lockdown and while the person was apprehended (and I suspect was suffering a mental health crisis and not looking to actually harm us), there were a super scary 40 or so minutes of the alarm/silence and then a few hours of waiting for police/police dogs to check the building. I know myself and other staff barely held it together in some of those moments, so the idea of finishing the full day of school and being a rock for our nervous students felt impossible when our cups were already empty.

But when I finally got to my prep period later that day, and had a moment to feel, I stepped into the office and the town police had sent the first of many therapy dogs. I didn't realize how much I needed to pet a dog in that moment. It gave me a chance to smile and later, when dogs were visiting my classroom, a chance for my students to joke around and laugh and not feel like they were doing the wrong thing. The dogs (and their lovely handlers) provided the perfect way to both acknowledge the terrifying experience of that morning and know that we were okay and the world was still good.

Knowing the dogs were coming back the next day was literally a motivating factor for going into work after a restless night. I remember walking my own dog at 6am and having the worst wave of "I should just call in sick." But my principal had already announced the dogs would be back. And I wanted to see them. And the joy my students felt with them. They made what could have been a day of anxiety, a genuinely positive memory (my phone is full of pictures of my students making goofy faces with the dogs).

So this is my long-winded way of saying thank you. While the experience of standing in silence and waiting to hear any sign of danger will probably always stick in my memory, so will the dogs.

Hi there, not sure why I didn’t think to look for a therapy dog group on here! Here is one of my therapy dogs as tax…

Is anyone aware of organizations or programs that certify or use therapy dogs in Europe? I will be moving to Europe (Portugal initially). It does not appear that there is anything similar to ATD or other groups certifying dogs, nor, that I could find, volunteer programs in Portugual. I am wondering if there are similar organizations in other parts of Europe?

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If I’m welcome here thats fine too lol

I am ready to get my dog certified as a therapy dog. We could cert with Alliance Therapy dogs or with TDI. There are some small differences in testing requirements, but those aren't a concern from w training perspective with my dog. Is there any reason I should choose one organization over the other?

I just adopted a Border Collie pup - previously attempted to train one of my Aussies in therapy work (huge failure). This pup has a lot of the characteristics I am looking for in therapy work.

From a training perspective, I know we need to do the CGC first - he's only 7 months, but we've already mastered several things on the list.

So from a training perspective and while he's young, what are some things we should focus on?

We're building confidence in new places, new people, dogs, etc. I want to build his confidence, but I also want to keep things positive. He's already showing a propensity to know what people need from him, he's really intuitive that way. I would like to focus on veteran therapy and maybe a child reading program too. He had a particularly heartwarming encounter with a former marine the other day and I saw the impact the time spent with my puppy made on this man. He actually thanked me for it.

What are some specifics I can focus on now to get him going in the right direction?

What traits can I look that will let me know he enjoys this type of work? Right now, he just melts whenever someone shows him attention. He's very calm and sweet and receptive.

Ziggy has been on the pet therapy team at the hospital for about a year. We’ve visited for a few special events at the children’s hospital but we had to do a sit down with the staff to be officially approved to visit. He was so excited to see everyone before plopping down in the floor to get loved on. I’m excited to share my little wiggly butt with even more people.

My mom has a phobia of dogs that is really affecting her life. She was never bitten or anything, but she was always nervous as a kid and had some really negative experiences with a relative's dog. I think for her it's about not knowing what a dog is going to do, if it will get in her face, etc.

My mom tried to go to therapy, but the therapist there, after some sessions, brought out her own dog (not a trained therapy dog, but gentle in the therapists opinion). The dog ended up snapping at my mom when my mom reached her hand out to it. This made her feel defeated and hopeless.

I recently had an experience at my university with a walk in pet therapy group. I was amazed, while there at how trained the therapy dog is and it never approached unless it was invited. This is exactly what my mom needs - to get exposure, but at her own pace.

I don't know if this is completely weird for me to ask, but do one-on-one sessions with therapy dogs exist? I have done some research, but most of the therapy dogs I found go to universities, schools, and children's groups. Basically, my question is, does this exist, where would I find it if so, and am I even approaching this in the right way based on my mom's situation?

Hi! Does anyone know where I can learn the following information for certified therapy dog handler? We recently passed the Pet Partners Team evaluation.

Certification of Animal Assisted Intervention Specialist requires a test in the following areas:

Training and Communication in AAI

Animal Welfare and Well-being

Zoonosis and Infection Prevention

Animal Behavior Awareness

AAI Foundations

Professional Best Practices

Where can I access this info without spending hundreds of dollars on classes?

Thanks!