| Re: Therapy Dog
I am no expert on getting pups ready for therapy...but in addition to obedience, my recommendation would be to socialize your dog to as many different people; situations; equipment....whatever you can think of...so, in addition to the natural confidence most rottweilers possess, the pup learns to accept most anything as normal and natural. And tho the dogs may still "startle" with any unexpected noise...their recovery is almost immediate and their reactions are not negative.
A large part of what makes good therapy dogs lies in the dogs nature....and characteristics passed on by their breeding or inherent in the type of dog.
For Duke, they tested his reaction to being in small quarters with many dogs and people; being patted by strangers; his responses to children; crutches; cats...how he handled being handled by others; his general excitability.....it was both one on one testing and group testing. And less than 60% of the dogs interviewed passed....and the other breeds ranged from goldens to mutts....large and small. Plus a vet reference was required in addition to proof that his shots were uptodate. Grooming and good health were also expected to be excellent.  |