Pet Life – Listing your Dog as a Therapy Dog

If you want your pet to become more than just a home and family dog, try having it listed as a therapy dog at your local clinic, hospital or other health facility.

Pets have long been used to make us feel better, especially dogs. People of all ages react well with therapy dogs, which help them stay happy through their recovery. Therapy dogs are also great when it comes to children since it gives them something to look forward to while they get well.

But not all dogs are eligible to become therapy dog. Your dog may not have the right personality or could be sick with dm in dogs. This could affect their ability to help the therapist. Dogs that are well socialized are great for the job, but dogs that are hesitant with strangers may need more training. Below are other things that you need to watch for before signing them up.

Handle well with the handler

Not unless you’re actually the one handling your pet, your dog and the handler must have a good relationship with each other. Most handlers are commonly therapists or health care professionals who took up a specialty in therapy, so they should know how to deal with your dog and the person they are interacting with. Check how your dog reacts and moves around with the handler to see how they work together.

Heath

Your dog’s own health should also be taken in consideration. If your dog has illnesses like arthritis, joint problems or dm in dogs, they may not stay as therapy dogs for long because of their illness’s progression. Same thing goes to dogs that are sickly. You’ll want to make sure that your dog is healthy and fit before training them to become a therapy dog.

Personality
As mentioned earlier, your dog needs to have a sociable personality. If your dog is really open and welcoming to strangers, then they could make the perfect therapy dog. You have to watch their temperament because your dog might be rough with the patients.

Size

Toy dogs are wonderful therapy dogs, but medium and large sized dogs also do very well with this job. When it comes to large therapy dogs, you have to be really watchful especially with younger children. You dog could over power them and hurt them by accident, but most well trained therapy dogs know how to control themselves around kids.