Therapy Work

[Rottnlove]

Another thread listed under Working Rotts brought to mind a couple of things.

I'm looking at all the possibilities of work for Xena. Conformation, Schutzhund, Carting, and definintely Therapy Work if she'd make a good canidate for it. (She's only 4.5 months old.)

Ok. Dumb question here, lol. I know Conformation can be quite costly, and since I'm so new to all the different types of work we do with our Rotties I was just wondering if Therapy Work was a costly thing to do? I wouldn't imagine it to be, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

And one last question. In order to train a dog for therapy, where do I start? She's almost done with her puppy kindergarten class.

Thanks!!!! :)

[Solomon]

I've been in contact with my local Delta contact - finding out training/fees/certification, etc. It looks like the entire process of taking the class, training and certifying will be under $250.

[RottiMomCT]

$250?!?! WOW! I paid $99 for Ben to go thru Advanced Obedience, then $25 for him to get his CGC, then $50 for our Delta Society evaluation...total of $174. About 75 less than you, but I thought it seemed less as we did it in steps. I'm guessing that if you took a course that included the training and testing it would be a little more costly.

Once certified, it's as expensive as you want to make it, depending on where you travel to and how often.

Where to start? Easy - socialize the heck outta your dog. Expose her to as many different sights/sounds/smells as you can. Get her CGC certificate and then get signed up to have you and the dog evaluated for Therapy Dog & Handler certification.

I guarantee you will be more nervous than the dog. They are evaluating you as a team to see how the two of you interact, how the dog recovers from distractions such as yelling, loud noises, etc. If you and your dog are a great team everywhere else, you'll have no problems with Therapy Work!

[Solomon]

The one-day class, with text book is $85. It sounds like it is worth it though, lectures by people who do therapy work, videos, etc...

[Rottnlove]

Wow, thanks for the excellent advice! I just hope once I do all this, that she'll have the right temperament to do the work. I think it would be the most rewarding job to do.

I can definitely agree that I'll be much, much more nervous than my dog when it comes time to test, LOL.

Thanks again! :)

[Carina43]

Cooper is certified through TDI. The annual dues are $35.00.

The requirement was simple - passing the CGC and also the TDI testing (I did both on the same day, I think it was $20.00) Dog must be one year old and current on vaccinations. Apart from the testing fee and the annual dues, I didn't spend any money that I wouldn't have anyway.

That's it! I also know someone who takes her Malamutes to nursing homes withoutbeing certtified anywhere, she just called around and asked if she could bring them. I don't know if there's any liability issues to consider, doing it like that.

When Cooper was 5 months old, I had the contract to paint the interior of three nursing homes. I asked if it was OK to bring him with me, and they said sure - so from 5-7 months old, he came a-painting with the crew! That's where I first heard of therapy work, because they had therapy dogs visiting weekly. Cooper now does a weekly visit to a local nursing home, and visits a home for abused children about once a month.

[Rottnlove]

Carina,

Thank you for that information! :)

I think that's amazing they let you bring Cooper at 5-7 months of age! It brings a question to mind. How did you paint and watch him? I'm sure you did a great job but I'm curious to know how you did it. Did you just crate him when you couldn't watch him? I think it's great.

It sounds like it's easy if you have the right dog to become certified. I didn't know there was an 35.00 annual fee, so thanks for posting this. It's no big deal, but it's good to know.

After you pass the test, do you ever have to renew the test?

[Carina43]

Originally posted by Rottnlove
Carina,


I think that's amazing they let you bring Cooper at 5-7 months of age! It brings a question to mind. How did you paint and watch him? I'm sure you did a great job but I'm curious to know how you did it. Did you just crate him when you couldn't watch him? I think it's great.

I had a crew...we all just kept an eye on him, and he tended to stay where I was anyhow. He did go off visiting resident rooms, but everything was pretty secure so we didn't worry much...he especially adored people with colostomy bags, :D He thought they smelled WAY interesting! He also seemed to know which people didn't want him near them, which was cool.

He came to work with me a lot - lots of residential jobs (great for socialising) and commercial jobs too, where he got used to different people, equipment, noises, etc. The other two Rottie pups I've raised also came to work with me most of the time...sure made puppy raising easier!

[Rottnlove]

Wow, sounds like he's quite well behaved. :)

I take Xena everywhere but if she's full of puppy energy, she's a bit more difficult to control...but she's doing extremely well in her training. We're quite impressed by how fast she picks up the training. :)