How To Have A Therapy Dog?

How To Have A Therapy Dog? More and more therapist, doctors and mental health professionals are becoming aware of the wonderful therapeutic benefits of how to have a therapy dog. Dogs are used with brain injury patients, elderly,

How To Have A Therapy Dog?

How To Have A Therapy Dog?

How To Have A Therapy Dog?
More
and more therapist, doctors and mental health professionals are becoming
aware of the wonderful therapeutic benefits of how to have a therapy dog. Dogs are used with brain injury patients, elderly,
physically impaired as well as patients in hospitals and treatment centres
. The very nature of a dog, its loyalty, unconditional love and
its pure joy at seeing a friend really make them a wonderful asset to
any therapy program.
Therapy that involves dogs, known as
Animal-Assisted therapy, is used in many different settings in several
different countries. The dogs can be involved in helping with fine motor
control as the patients move their arms and fingers to pet and brush
the dogs as part of their therapy process. Large muscle therapy is also
completed when the patients take the dogs for walks or on outings to
parks and recreational areas. Here is how to have a therapy dog.

Personality
A
laid back, gentle personality is integral to the core of a therapy dog.
It can be playful but should be relaxed and very gentle. It should also
be very friendly to strangers, other dogs and other animals in general.
It should not have an aggressive personality at all. It should not be
nervous and be able to walk through a crowd without being distracted,
upset or frightened. A therapy dog may be exposed to a variety of
situations that could be distracting or even scary and he or she should
have a personality that is not nervous or aggressive. It should handle
these situations with a calm, friendly ease.
Health
Health
is very important for a therapy dog. Dogs that are involved with therapy
dog associations must pass regular, annual vet checkups and present a
clean bill of health. He or she must be current on all shots, including
rabies (mandatory by state laws). They must also have a negative
heartworm test. The dog must appear healthy, meaning that his or her
teeth must be in good condition and the coat must be well groomed, shiny
and not have any bare patches.
Behavior
A therapy dog has
to have very good behavior. It must respond quickly to its handler's
commands and be very obedient. He or she must not have any bad habits,
even licking. A therapy dog is to be petted, but they should not lick or
mouth (a "doggie speak" behavior of putting their mouth gently on your
hand, arm, etc. but not biting) people because this can be upsetting to
some folks. The dog should be able to walk on a leash using a plain
buckle collar without pulling or jerking its handler. When being petted,
it should sit politely.
Training
It is imperative that a
therapy dog go through obedience training. They should be trained how to
sit on command, stay and walk on a loose leash. He or she must be able
to come when called and be easily controlled. An undisciplined dog is
not therapy dog material. Since therapy dogs can begin training as early
as one year old, you should get your dog into obedience training early
so that you can instill good, positive behaviors and not get started
with any bad habits. A well behaved, well trained dog is very desirable 
when it comes to therapy dogs.
Handler
The handler of a
therapy dog is just as important as the dog itself. It is the handler
who keeps the dog "in check," making sure that he or she behaves
correctly. The handler should be of good character, personable and good
with people. They should not be nervous or edgy since these emotions
often transfer to the dogs they handle. If you are thinking of becoming a
therapy dog handler, check out some associations that deal with therapy
assistant pets and read the resource material. If training is offered,
it would probably be a good idea to take part in that as well. After
all, you want to be the very best for your dog; he or she is depending
on you.