Williams: Could your dog be a therapy dog?

A few weeks ago I wrote about two very important jobs dogs can perform: assistance and therapy work. I’ve received many inquiries from people requesting more information about therapy dog work in particular, so I thought I’d take some time to shed a little light on the process of becoming a certified therapy dog team. That’s right; therapy dog work is not just about the dog’s abilities and qualities. It’s also about the abilities and qualities of the human at the other end of the leash.

What exactly is a therapy dog team? A therapy dog is not an assistance dog and does not have federally granted public access in places such as restaurants, grocery stores or on public transportation. It’s a team of one handler and one dog who participate in animal assisted therapy and activities with the public. Animal assisted therapy is a goal directed program, managed by physical or mental health professionals, in which the dog actually participates in a patient’s treatment. Its purpose is to improve a patient’s physical, social, emotional and/or cognitive functioning and it can be presented in a variety of settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities and rehabilitation centers. Some examples would be allowing the dog to help improve a patient’s wheelchair skills, balance, fine motor skills, attention skills and decrease anxiety. The patient’s progress is measured and evaluated on a continual basis, and the dog becomes an integral part of the patient’s treatment process.

On the other hand, animal assisted activities, the most common type of therapy dog work, involves the therapy dog team providing motivational, educational and recreational benefits to an individual or group in a variety of environments. There are no specific goals for each visit, but rather the time spent is spontaneous and more loosely based. Some examples are a therapy team making routine visits to inpatients in a hospital, visiting a nursing home to interact with residents and their family members, or a therapy team “reading” with children at a community library.

What makes a good therapy dog team? Could you and your dog be candidates? Here are some basic questions to ask yourself:

•Is your dog well socialized and eager to interact and socialize with humans?
•Has he been introduced to and become comfortable with a variety of people such as persons with an unsteady gait, people with physical and/or emotional handicaps, children and adolescents?
•Does he or she demonstrate a comfort level in a variety of settings and environments?
•Is he or she reliable and predictable with basic obedience skills (sit, down, stay, come when called, leave it) despite environmental distractions?
•Are you comfortable interacting with people from varying backgrounds (different ages, ethnicities, genders, disabilities, etc) and handling stressful situations?
•Do you have good listening skills?
•Do you have free time to devote to this work?
•Are you reliable, dependable and respectful?
•Are you trustworthy? People may share intimate details of their lives with you. You should be trustworthy and consider all things said and heard to be confidential.
•Are you able to recognize you and your dog’s limitations?

If you answered yes to all of the above questions, yes, all of them, you and your dog just might be good candidates for therapy team work! And as Uncle Sam says, “We Want You!” The Stafford County area in particular is in great need of therapy dog teams. If you feel you and your dog have the potential, please consider volunteering for this honorable work. If your dog is a bit rusty with his obedience skills, additional training may be necessary, but if you both have the basics, you may be closer to this goal than you think.

For more local information on how you and your dog can become a certified therapy dog team, visit the Blue Gray Spirit Keepers' Web site at bluegrayspirit-keepers.org.

Laurie Williams is a Stafford business owner who appeared on “Greatest American Dog” with her Maltese, Andrew. Reach her at onesmartpooch@aol.com.