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  1. #1
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    Therapy Dog testing

    Probably after the first of the year we will be taking our therapy dog test. Any advice or suggestions? Which organizations have you tested with?Would love to hear about your experiences with the test. Thank you much! Needless to say I'm nervous!
    JoAnn

  2. #2
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Maxx is TDI certified. We did work hard but he was still young and honestly the sweetest, most mellow Lab I have had in my life. He was born to be a therapy dog! I think a good obedience foundation from a great trainer is your best friend. Good luck to you, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
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    Tammy
    Maxx and Emma Jean

    Ozzy - 10/2002 - 06/2011 - Rest well my sweet boy. You are forever remembered, forever missed, forever in my heart.

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    JoAnn (12-11-2015)

  4. #3
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    I did TDI with Luna. The most important thing is to RELAX. If you are stressed, your dog will be too!

    The evaluator wasn't nearly as strict as I expected. Luna's biggest difficulty was the "leave it" when she had to directly walk over a cookie on the ground. That was almost impossible for her. My trainer recommended walking with a tight leash or giving a tiny leash correction if I knew Luna wouldn't leave it. If Luna ate the cookie it would be an automatic fail, but the tight leash or leash correction just meant we had to do the exercise again and got a second chance so to speak.

    Just relax. It will go wonderfully I'm sure!
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    Sarah, human
    Luna, born 6/14/13, gotcha 8/18/13 and TDI certified 5/12/2015
    Comet, born 4/3/15, gotcha 6/9/15
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    JoAnn (12-11-2015)

  6. #4
    House Broken
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    Quote Originally Posted by doubledip1 View Post
    I did TDI with Luna. The most important thing is to RELAX. If you are stressed, your dog will be too!

    The evaluator wasn't nearly as strict as I expected. Luna's biggest difficulty was the "leave it" when she had to directly walk over a cookie on the ground. That was almost impossible for her. My trainer recommended walking with a tight leash or giving a tiny leash correction if I knew Luna wouldn't leave it. If Luna ate the cookie it would be an automatic fail, but the tight leash or leash correction just meant we had to do the exercise again and got a second chance so to speak.

    Just relax. It will go wonderfully I'm sure!
    Isn't that scary though with the leave it exercise? I thought the point of that requirement was to make sure the dog wouldn't pick anything harmful up that the handler might not notice, like a dropped pill, or piece of food with medication in it. I'd be afraid to continue if my dog wouldn't leave things reliably without a tight leash. What if you didn't know it would be there?

    My only advice is don't rush, and wait until you're definitely ready. Also, take your cues from your dog. I've come to think that dogs either have it or don't when it comes to therapy work, there doesn't seem to be real training involved besides what basics any dog would know. They pretty much have to have that inherent talent for it like Maxx who was described above; and they have to have the desire as well... having been on the recieving end of the benefits of a therapy dog, I can tell you it's pointless if you either have a dog who can only be a therapy dog bc they're being managed with obedience commands the whole time, or if the dog would rather be doing something else (or both). To me, the comfort in a therapy dog was in having someone who was there just to chill. No need to talk, just a comforting presence. I once met a dog who was a great dog, but the entire time his owner was briskly doling out commands to manage the situation and it felt as though the interaction was between the dog and handler and that as the patient, I was interrupting their training.

    So, if you've got a trained dog with that happy to be with anybody attitude who quickly adjusts well to new environments, you pretty much just have to show up and show them that!

    I hope it goes well, therapy dogs are definitely the best therapy as far as I'm concerned. I wish I could do it, but my dog would only pass the required items on tests by being totally focused on me, which does nothing for anyone else.

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    JoAnn (12-11-2015)

  8. #5
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by K10 View Post
    Isn't that scary though with the leave it exercise? I thought the point of that requirement was to make sure the dog wouldn't pick anything harmful up that the handler might not notice, like a dropped pill, or piece of food with medication in it. I'd be afraid to continue if my dog wouldn't leave things reliably without a tight leash. What if you didn't know it would be there?
    She's got a perfect leave it with things that are already there. But it's an entirely different situation when you've got a food-obsessed Labrador who sees the trainer take a giant cookie out of their pocket and then put it down on the ground right in front of your dog. ;-)

    I'm not worried about her at all. I drop things all the time, especially when I'm cooking, and she automatically leaves it alone until I give her the go ahead.

    I do agree with you about the commands part. The best therapy dogs are the ones who are just there to hang out, not the ones who you heavily train in order to be able to do it. Comet will be a way better therapy dog than Luna, because he just has that magic personality.
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    Sarah, human
    Luna, born 6/14/13, gotcha 8/18/13 and TDI certified 5/12/2015
    Comet, born 4/3/15, gotcha 6/9/15
    Double Dip, 25 y/o Draft/Welsh pony
    Gracie, 17 y/o DSH cat
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    JoAnn (12-11-2015)

  10. #6
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    The TDI test around here involves a person holding a cookie out and offering it to the dog asking them "do you want a cookie", and the dog has to leave it and not accept it even though the person is waiving it right in front of their face asking them if they want it. As you can imagine, this is extremely difficult for a lab.

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    doubledip1 (12-11-2015), JoAnn (12-11-2015)

 



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