Certification Steps
In order to maintain Therapet's high standard of excellence in the field of Animal Assisted Therapy, there are steps we follow to ensure your dog is ready for this unique challenge.
Step 1: Obedience Training
The first step is for you and your dog to attend obedience classes at the facility of your choice. You and your dog should attend a beginner, intermediate and advanced level class before testing. Each of these levels are usually offered in 6-8 week sessions. During this training time most facilites offer their students the opportunity to take the Canine Good Citizens Test. (CGC) You can learn more about this test by logging on to www.AKC.org This test evaluates the dog to see if they have basic obedience skills. This is not a temperament test to evaluate the dog's ability for therapy, but rather an evlaution to determine if the dog is ready to proceed to the next level of training.
Step 2: Therapet Skills Class
The Therapet Skills class is a unique opportunity we offer to dogs in training. Once you and your dog have a CGC, you are encouraged to take a 5 week skills class to learn the skills specific to therapy dog duties. Participants learn all the special commands needed to work in a hospital environment and practice around all the equipment incluing hospital beds, walkers, crutches, canes and therapy tables. This all occurs at the Pads N' Paws Training Center in Troup, Texas.
Step 3: Temperament Test
The trainers in the skills class can assess the participants and let them know if their dog is ready to be tested. Animals can only be tested twice so we want to make sure the dog is ready before setting up an evalutaion time. The veterinary screening and application for membership must be completed and returned to the Therapet Office before a test date can be set up. The temperament test is set up to take place in a hospital setting. If the dog passes, then it is able to begin a probationary period volunteering with supervision at the facility of your choice.
Therapet requires a yearly skills check off to ensure that the dog and volunteer maintain their level of training. We also encourage you to take your dog through an obedience classes once a year to maintain their skills.
All of this is done to ensure that when you begin volunteering with your dog, you both have a safe and enjoyable eperience!
