Therapy Dog Prep Class
This class is designed to prepare handlers and their dogs for visits to
institutions, facilities, and any other place where Therapy Dogs are needed.
The primary objective of the Therapy Dog is to provide comfort and
companionship in a way that promotes healing and improves the quality of
life for the people being visited and the staff who care for these people.
So what’s the difference between Therapy Dogs vs. Emotional Support
Animals? First, a Therapy Dog can help multiple people, sometimes even at
the same time! An emotional support animal (as well as a Service Dog), is
dedicated to helping one person all of the time. Another important difference
between therapy dogs and ESA’s is how the law recognizes them. ESA owners
get special protections that allow them to have their animals on airplanes
and in rental units; these laws do not cover therapy dogs. Therapy dogs may
only go into facilities where they are invited.
If your dog is at least one-year-old and has some basic training (sit, stay,
come, walk on a loose leash at least most of the time), this may be the class
for you! We can teach you to work as a team with your dog. A Therapy Dog
must have an outstanding temperament. This means that the dog should be
outgoing and friendly to all people, tolerant of other dogs and non-aggressive
toward other pets.
If your dog has these qualities and you are interested in getting started,
please register for this class. Our ultimate goal is to create teams to visit
facilities together. It’s a great way to build a strong relationship with your
dog, meet like-minded people and help address a real need in our
community.