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Thread: Therapy Dogs

  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Therapy Dogs

    To those of you who have therapy dogs, how often do you visit nursing homes, etc? Do you set up a schedule...is there a general rule of thumb on this? Do you have more than one facility that you visit? I am just beginning this with my dog and would appreciate any advice. Thanks!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    We have scheduled visits four times a month with three different facilities.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    The organization you go with will guide you on that. Here the only one with insurance for me and my dog would schedule once a week visits with a client. After assessing my dog they would decide which client it would be. It wouldn't necessarily be someone in a nursing home. I was already visiting retirement and nursing homes where my Mum and Aunt were and since I'm family did not need a therapy dog designation (though the insurance aspect might have been nice) so did not follow through.

    BE sure you check out the insurance. When I was looking into it the lady advising me said her dog had been poisoned by a resident slipping a medication to her dog. All the dog suffered was a day of lethargy. There's also the chance of your dog hurting, or it's claimed to have hurt, someone you are visiting. You might want to check into your own public liability to see if coverage should be added.
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    Senior Dog Abulafia's Avatar
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    Is your dog already licensed? As above, your local group will be able to advise on this.

    My pup is 7 months old, so too young to be licensed, but she's been in a puppy therapy class, and we continue to work w/ the trainer who recommended such.

    Snowshoe—that is horrible about a resident poisoning a dog. How frightening!
    Hidden Content Hokule'a ("Hoku") / b. 06.08.15

  5. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Abulafia View Post
    Is your dog already licensed? As above, your local group will be able to advise on this.

    My pup is 7 months old, so too young to be licensed, but she's been in a puppy therapy class, and we continue to work w/ the trainer who recommended such.

    Snowshoe—that is horrible about a resident poisoning a dog. How frightening!
    The lady who owned the dog did not think it was poisoned on purpose or even that the med was given on purpose. AFter being in the homes with my Mum and Aunt I've seen signs of confusion. PIlls look like candy. The place I was going to therapy dog test Oban with does not allow clients to feed the dogs but it happens. WE have allowed it, we even take food for the residents to give the dog.
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    Abulafia (01-18-2016)

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    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    i was tested by and joined a group that did most of that. then once in the facility i worked with the coordinator for scheduling.

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    Abulafia (01-18-2016)

  9. #7
    Senior Dog Abulafia's Avatar
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    We live close to a large children's hospital and a Ronald McDonald house, and there are several local programs that take dogs to read with children and to visit Memory Homes (facilities that specialize in the elderly w/ dementia). Lots of opportunities, and so far it's looking like Hoku is a good fit.
    Hidden Content Hokule'a ("Hoku") / b. 06.08.15

  10. #8
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Abulafia View Post
    We live close to a large children's hospital and a Ronald McDonald house, and there are several local programs that take dogs to read with children and to visit Memory Homes (facilities that specialize in the elderly w/ dementia). Lots of opportunities, and so far it's looking like Hoku is a good fit.
    that's great! I will note that many groups require that any dog that visits children have previous therapy experience. At least the group I worked with did that. You did the TDI and got certified and signed up with them and then would do other placements. Once you had experience you could apply to work with kids (mostly the reading program) but pretty sure they tested you a bit more. The hospital may have their own program though (or have links with a therapy group in the city).

    Rocky loved people but was burned out by the end of his hour. This will depend on the dog and the environment (he had to sit up and such). He was FAR from perfect, he isn't gentle with taking treats/food so I had to tell people he had bad allergies (either way you are not supposed to let them take food to begin with) but people went out of their way to buy him treats so it's hard.

    I think Penny would love it in the right environment. But it would take A LOT of work to control her jumping and worse her LICKING :P And pass the test really. She can at times be skittish too so she may not do well in a hospital environment. But she loves affection and giving cuddles. I hope to one day at least get her CGN some day. A friend told me to do it outside on a hot summer day after running agility :P get her nice and tired and sleepy and hot.

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    Abulafia (01-20-2016)

  12. #9
    Senior Dog Abulafia's Avatar
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    Yes, as part of her training she has been working mainly with kids (reading programs) and with the elderly (the dementia home I mentioned). Those are both the primary focus of the trainers we're working with (who have links w/, etc.). But she has months left of training even before taking the test.

    I won't let people feed her. I don't let anyone feed her save at the Vet. She's a big girl, so I just chuckle and say "Oh, that's so sweet, but she's on a diet, sorry." She is on a diet—a healthy one—but they figure it's a weight-loss thing, and that tends to work.
    Hidden Content Hokule'a ("Hoku") / b. 06.08.15

  13. #10
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    I schedule all my own visits. I didn't renew Luna through TDI, they're super obnoxious and emailed me 3 times and called me a bunch of times to get a copy of a form I had sent them months ago. They have no communication in their corporate headquarters so I'll be looking for a different group
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