Therapy dog?

[M.R.Ducks]

Search under therapy dog registration and classes. There's a lot of information out there and certain programs that offer training. Ultimately, whether you train the dog your self or attend classes, the dog will be required to pass an examine by a certified instructed. How easy or hard will depend on the instructor. I know people who thought it was extremely easy and others who failed because their leash was 6" to long.

Thank you

[mudminnow]

Know that t there is a difference between:
1. Therapy dog
2. Service Dog
3. Emotional Support dog

The world is overrun with unruly, untrained "emotional support dogs" that don't do anything except provide some kind of imaginary buffer between their owners and reality.

Any Tom, Dick or Harry can purchase a service dog vest on Amazon and slap it on their ill-mannered dog so they can take them into public places. It's freaking ridiculous.

REAL Service dogs provide a specific service that requires training and these dogs have great manners and are safe to be around

Therapy dogs are selected for temperament and visit hospitals and nursing homes.

Second this.

I had the privelege of taking care of a golden retriever pup from 8 weeks until last week who was just placed with his special needs owner. He'd go to "school" for six weeks at a time and on break he would stay at my house. It was a really great experience. The Service Dog group told us to expose him to anything we could think of. So he was treated like my dogs. Screaming kids, gunshots, and trips to the hunting property was the norm. We also took him with us anywhere we wanted with his service vest on. The trainers said he was bombproof.

The girl who he was placed with will be going to high school and it took forever for the school to approve the dog. They were afraid that during a fire drill the dog would poop and pee on the floor because it was scared. Seriously, these animals were once wolves and we have degraded them to a point where a loud noise making a dog poop and pee on the floor is the immediate thought of most owners. Im sure he passed the fire alarm test with flying colors.

[M.R.Ducks]

Awesome mudminnow.

Thanks for all the responses as well. This little dog as done everything and more that I’ve asked of her. I want to push her as far as she’ll go. I think I found someone to talk to as far as training and certificates go and then once that is done I believe I’m going to get with my church and see if maybe we can start something to get involved with the hospitals and nursing homes and do a visit with the dog and maybe a verse or two. We’ll see where it goes

[mudminnow]

Awesome mudminnow.

Thanks for all the responses as well. This little dog as done everything and more that I’ve asked of her. I want to push her as far as she’ll go. I think I found someone to talk to as far as training and certificates go and then once that is done I believe I’m going to get with my church and see if maybe we can start something to get involved with the hospitals and nursing homes and do a visit with the dog and maybe a verse or two. We’ll see where it goes

another good place is a courthouse. I have a friend that has her dog therapy credentialed and goes there. There are alot of sad, worried kids and adults there who enjoy petting a dog while they wait on their cases. That would be a good ministry along with hospitals and nursing homes.

[stro]

I've done it- I have a registered therapy dog and have volunteered at hospitals as you've mentioned. Most (if not all) hospitals require that the dog is registered for insurance/liability purposes. The certification process involves having the dog evaluated by an assessor from a therapy dog registry organization (not the same thing as a service dog, as many in this thread seem to think). The dog has to pass an in-person test in a similar environment to where you might visit- mine was conducted at a nursing home. I don't think tests are not offered all that frequently, so you may have to wait a month or two. If your dog has a firm command of obedience and is well-socialized, you will have no problem. It's a one-time test and then there's an annual registration fee.

Mine is registered through Therapy Dogs International. There should be more detailed information on the process on their website. I think there is another organization too but I can't remember the name of it- I just picked the one that had the most convenient test date/location.

[SCswampCAT]

If I’m laying in my hospital bed one day, someone please remember that I’ll be pissed if a Boykin is presented to me as a form of “therapy”.

x2

[uga_dawg]

Know that t there is a difference between:
1. Therapy dog
2. Service Dog
3. Emotional Support dog

The world is overrun with unruly, untrained "emotional support dogs" that don't do anything except provide some kind of imaginary buffer between their owners and reality.

Any Tom, Dick or Harry can purchase a service dog vest on Amazon and slap it on their ill-mannered dog so they can take them into public places. It's freaking ridiculous.

REAL Service dogs provide a specific service that requires training and these dogs have great manners and are safe to be around

Therapy dogs are selected for temperament and visit hospitals and nursing homes.

Well said.

[hickory]

We've paid for and are awaiting a dog for my son with CP. We're getting it from North Star out of CT (I think that's their base). We thought we were getting it sooner, but the owners of NS didn't feel like any of the pups from the recent litter had the temperament for my sons condition, so it'll be another couple of months. It'll be a "therapy dog", until it reaches all of its training (approx 2 years).
Some people on here have obviously never sat around their child shaking uncontrollably due to anxiety, OCD, or other uncontrollable conditions (in our case caused by brain damage). I'm sure they live by the "toughen up" approach, which is how I have always been until experiencing it in my own home over the last 11 years. I've learned not to judge, as even my kid came appear to be the most normal, funny, smart, and down to earth kid at times, but the other side at times is a nightmare and has been getting worse.
He was taken by ambulance/ police and was hospitalized for 6 days at MUSC IOP2 North last week. Worst experience of my families life, but most of all his. I would have thought MUSC pediatric psych would have been much better for "treatment" and not just a holding block with guards and once a day doctor visits. The lack of common since stupid shit they did was mind blowing (gave him food he can't eat, wrong timing on meds, made him wait hours to get new scrubs after he had a accident, served the kids coffee for breakfast thinking it was OJ, and the list goes on and on), much of which is blamed on or goes back to lack of funding. If you're a child with cancer, burns, physical disease, etc, you'll get the best funding, treatment, and public support ever. If you're a child (or adult for that matter) with a mental illness or emotional problem, you're pushed in the corner, you're the first opportunity for a budget cut, and treated more like a prisoner than someone needing help. It's no wonder there's such a high rate of child suicide, drug abuse, shootings, etc.. The system has them set up for failure, which in my opinion is more expensive in the long run than helping someone live a functioning life.
Does anyone know if the treatment for mental illness is less lucrative than the treatment of other previously mentioned conditions? Follow the money has to be the cause.
Sorry to get off track from the service dog post!

[2thDoc]

sounds like you have every right to vent.

[mudflat]

Will the 2thDoc allow a therapy dog on the patients lap to ease the fear of the dentist? Asking for a friend...

[2thDoc]

absolutely!

[M.R.Ducks]

Sorry for your experiences hickory. I’ll keep you and your family in my prayers. That is a prime example of why I want to be able to help people out. I haven’t done much volunteer work in my life and I figure if I can incorporate my pooch to help it’ll only make it that much sweeter.

Stro- I appreciate the organization name and info. I looked them up and emailed the guy and hopefully will take the test on May 20. Hopefully my LBD won’t go full spaniel during the examine and we’ll pass.

[WoodieSC]

hickory, I'm really sorry to hear about what your son and family are going through and hope it all works out. I have no suggestions other than maybe try to see if there are better hospitals for mental conditions than MUSC.

Best wishes to your son and your family.

I've done it- I have a registered therapy dog and have volunteered at hospitals as you've mentioned. Most (if not all) hospitals require that the dog is registered for insurance/liability purposes. The certification process involves having the dog evaluated by an assessor from a therapy dog registry organization (not the same thing as a service dog, as many in this thread seem to think). The dog has to pass an in-person test in a similar environment to where you might visit- mine was conducted at a nursing home. I don't think tests are not offered all that frequently, so you may have to wait a month or two. If your dog has a firm command of obedience and is well-socialized, you will have no problem. It's a one-time test and then there's an annual registration fee.

Mine is registered through Therapy Dogs International. There should be more detailed information on the process on their website. I think there is another organization too but I can't remember the name of it- I just picked the one that had the most convenient test date/location.

Sorry for your experiences hickory. I’ll keep you and your family in my prayers. That is a prime example of why I want to be able to help people out. I haven’t done much volunteer work in my life and I figure if I can incorporate my pooch to help it’ll only make it that much sweeter.

Stro- I appreciate the organization name and info. I looked them up and emailed the guy and hopefully will take the test on May 20. Hopefully my LBD won’t go full spaniel during the examine and we’ll pass.

M.R.Ducks, stro is right. Therapy Dog International is the organization we had our original Golden Retriever certified through.

https://tdi-dog.org/default.aspx

Here is the full list of therapy dog organizations recognized by the AKC, for what it's worth...

https://www.akc.org/sports/title-rec...organizations/

With both Penny (CDC and TDI certified) and Dillon (her younger brother, CDC certified), we started both of them with Canine Good Citizen certification (CDC). I don't know if that's still the path, but it helped us with their original screening. Then Penny went on for her TDI and visited nursing homes with my wife. They never got into the hospital visits because of the extra red tape (insurances, etc) that most/all(?) hospitals have. Dillon could have also attained the TDI certification, but I was busy training him for hunting and didn't have the time to get into therapy visits like my wife was doing.

The one time their certifications did help out was when we had to go to MUSC when my MIL was in for a second heart bypass and I spent four days with the dogs out in the quad reading and playing with the dogs and meeting people. But the hospital allowed us into the waiting room during the evenings and tons of people who were anxious and worrying about their loved ones in the hospitals sat around and visited with the dogs for hours.

Congrats on your effort and interest. Go for it and good luck!

[M.R.Ducks]

Thanks woodie. I’ve got my test scheduled for the end of May. It’s kind of fitting thinking about into nursing homes. All of my grandparents except one, were involved with nursing homes. My wife is also a part time hospice nurse so maybe I could work something out with her employer to where she could take the pup if it all works out. Thanks again everyone.

[hickory]

Thanks for the kind words folks. It's a roller coaster ride!