Becoming A Therapy Dog Essay

A dog is more than just a pet, it is a companion who has a greater impact on an individual than one could ever imagine. It may seem like a foreign topic but any pet for example, a dog, you own has a much greater potential than just being an animal you care for daily. These domestic animals can impact you in a greater way than just being around for you on the daily. Nowadays, there is a growing percent of dog owners who are looking into making their dogs into a therapy dog to benefit themselves and others. The use of therapy dogs has most recently become more popular, “...New York, began a reading dog program in late 2008, and it has been highly successful” (Francis). Overall, the use of therapy dogs is becoming more popular in many different

The first step to becoming a therapy dog is they must be trained to be around certain environments, they cannot react in a negative way to certain things like loud noises, something being dropped or someone petting them. For example, if a therapy dog works in a hospital and a medication is dropped, they are trained to leave it there and not eat it, it could be not only important for the patient to get, but may be harmful to the dog itself. Under this first step to becoming a therapy dog, there are many different pathways the owner may take in training their dog. One article explains how there is not a specific training routine each dog must take, “Therapy dogs do not require any special training. They only have to know basic obedience and be well- behaved” (“Therapy Animal Information”). Organizations such as Pet Partners of Syracuse hold evaluations every few months to test dogs on their ability to stay calm in certain situations. The organization brings together a group of individuals who are willing to volunteer and act as different distractions as the dog being tested walks around. This may just be used as a test run and the dog owner may decide to come back as many times as they please depending on how their dog does. An individual who is seeking to make their dog into a therapy dog may train them themselves as long as they know the requirements. Overall, the

Each and every animal that becomes certified has a specific job, they are able to go to certain locations but are very limited to one specific job. This could be in a hospital, school, library or any other facility, this all depends on their certification, type of training and the organization they are working for in the long run. Once again, the most important step to becoming a therapy dog is they must be obedient and well-behaved from the start.Therapy dog are only a small portion of the therapy animal world. There are many other animals that make an enormous impact on a number of humans lives. The author of “Therapy Animal Information” states, “Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, domesticated rats, horses, donkeys, llamas, alpacas, pot-bellied pigs and birds can all be used in therapy animal work” (7). This statement was astounding to me. The power animals can have on humans has been proven to heal and strengthen so many. The steps to become any type of therapy animal relies on the type of work one wishes to do with their pet. The process may seem long and tiring but, the outcome is well worth