Therapy Dogs: Two Things to Know

Therapy dogs and other therapy animals can drastically help boost morale and encourage interactions among many different people. They are used in disaster areas, in homes for the elderly or disabled, and even to help shy children gain confidence in their reading. There are a couple of things that you should know before you start looking for a therapy pet of your own, or before getting involved in a local therapy animal program.

Non-Certified vs. Certified Therapy Dogs

To be a certified therapy animal, dogs and others will need to register and take tests from a regulatory body. The most common resource for certifying dogs as therapy animals is the American Kennel Club (AKC). These dogs will need to pass off their Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certifications and then be tested for how they react to strangers of all ages, loud noises, and other things. If you are looking for a therapy pet for your home then you will not necessarily need to have them certified and many therapists can write you a prescription of sorts for a therapy animal to assist with things such as PTSD or other disorders.

Preferred Therapy Dog Breeds

Some breeds of dogs are preferred over others as therapy animals, but it depends more on the personality and training of the individual dog. For instance, not every retriever will be a therapy animal and not every boxer will be excluded from the certifications. Calm, intelligent, and friendly dogs, such as golden retrievers, are ideal for use as therapy dogs because they can be easily trained and love the attention.

Therapy animals come in all species, shapes, and sizes. They do have one thing in common though, it has been proven that interacting with animals can help boost morale in many different ways. Therapy dogs, for example, are often used in disaster areas to help comfort survivors. These dogs are also used in therapy offices to help treat disorders such as PTSD. When looking for a therapy dog you will want to decide whether you need a certified one or not and you will want to check the best breeds for this job.