Is Your Dog A Therapy Dog ??

[2rotties2luv]

Just wondering how many rotties and member's other dogs are involved in therapy work.

How old is your dog?
How old was your dog when you began doing therapy work?
Do you belong to an organized therapy group?
Are you and your dog certified by any organization?
What kind of facility do you visit, and what sort of therapy activities do you do?
Has the staff at the facilities you visit been supportive, or have there been difficulties?

My rotties are Sierra, 7yrs old, and Jazz, 6 yrs old. We were first certified by a local organization when Sierra was 4.5 yrs and Jazz was 3.5 yrs. We were tested and certified by Delta Society about 1.5 yrs ago.

We began by visiting children and young adults at a local long-term-care charity hospital. Although the volunteer dept. was entheusiastic, the staff was not supportive and one person was downright hostile. The patients and the facility were not kept clean, and this was distracting to the dogs. After 6 months, I decided to stop.

I am now doing visits at elementary schools in my area, giving a classroom presentation on dog ownership responsibilities and/or dog bite prevention. I'm now talking with the local Girl Scout district program director, and I may give similar presentations to local girl scout and brownie troops in the coming year.

I also have visited a local camp, which has summer sessions for kids with cancer and AIDS.

And lastly, another therapy volunteer and I take our dogs and visit several dorms at a local college during finals ! The young folks really appreciate it, because its a welcome diverson and a stress-reliever ! Also a GREAT opportunity to promote rescue and the importance of training and socialization to future dog owners !

[chefmikesworld]

Hi 2Rotties,

My name is chefmike and I just joined. Yesterday was the first time I took my Harley on a therapy session. He was awesome.

Harley is 2 as of June 18th. I took Harley as a rescue and had to keep him. He is my first Rottie, I owned an Akita for a long time and when Jake passed I said I would never own another dog...boy was I wrong.

I have done some training with different breeds of large dogs and Harley was probably one of the easiest dogs to teach, it is unbeleivable how smart he is.

I currently work for Marriott International consulting for their assisted living complexes in Austin, Tx. We have Pet Pals come in once a month and have been very interested in the therapy work. I did some research and started training him around other animals, all walks of people from infants (family members), to senior citizens, the pulling, poking, loud noises, jumping at him etc. and he is just awesome. I eventually want to get involved with a certification, but I need to get life on a more even keel. Marriott is sending us to South Carolina next week indefinitely, so hopefully I will get involved with AR and the Delta Society or some other organization to get Harley certified.

Any pointers in training would be more than welcomed.

Peace,Hugs and Doggie Bisquits,
chefmike and Harley

[chefmikesworld]

I forgot to add that the complex I do some work at is where I took Harley to, and they loved him. Some were taken back because of his size, but overall he had a grand welcome from majority of the residents.

chefmike and Harley

[judy v]

I taught Jason to carry a basket. No one semed particularly worried about a rottweiler with a basket filled with goodies.

Jason was eighteen months old when he completed TDI certification.

[2rotties2luv]

Anyone else out there who does therapy work with their rottie ???

[SarasMom]

Sara is now 6. She was certified by TDI at 2 1/2 years old. Our first few visits were with a small group with some experience in therapy work. For several months after that we visited with a friend and her deaf TDI Dalmatian, Trevor. Trevor is now retired but he was a very good therapy dog. Because of his deafness, he was scheduled to be put down by his breeders. My friend was a vet tech and asked the breeders to give her a chance with Trevor. She trained him with hand signals and he had a long and successful career as a therapy dog. :) My point in all this is that help from experienced therapy dog teams was very valuable to me. It takes a while to learn the ropes.

We've been visiting a convalescent home regularly for over 3 years now. At first much of the staff was afraid of Sara simply because she's a Rottie. They soon fell in love with her and now they look forward to seeing her as much as the residents! I was chastised at the volunteer banquet this year for not bringing Sara along!! Occasionally a new hire is afraid of Sara, but they are quickly educated. ;) Last year, the home was carefully scrutinized by the state for months over some record keeping matters. I think we met every nursing home inspector/official in the state! Those are the days you hope the dog is really "on". Sara never let me down! We got a couple of raised eyebrows, "what, a Rottweiler??", but they were won over. ;)

Amazingly the residents have never been afraid of her because she's a Rottie. Some were a little taken aback because of her size, but not because of her breed. The home we visit is not a retirement home, but a home for the very ill. Most of them don't watch much television and haven't seen all the Rottie hype. I suppose they don't know to be afraid of Rotties. ;) We are almost always well received by residents' family members as well. They are thrilled that the facility has a therapy dog program.

Therapy work has been very rewarding for me and Sara loves it. When we get within few blocks of the facility she starts whining like crazy with excitement! We get pretty attached to the residents and when somebody dies it's tough. I can only think of about 4 residents who have lived there the whole time we've been visiting. :( It's just part of the "job".

We visit other facilities occasionally and attend special events. Sara also pulls her cart in local parades. It's not really a part of her therapy work, but it's a wonderful educational and PR opportunity, and besides, she is CRAZY about parades. Talk about a doggy grin! :D The local nursing homes usually bring a few of the residents out and they love seeing "their" Sara in the parade! :)

[ August 10, 2001: Message edited by: SarasMom ]

[damp]

I moved to a little village 25 yr. ago, where (at that time) 700 of the inhabitants out of 2000 were mental retarded people living at the Central Institution. They have always been an accepted and integrated part of the village since the fifties, so I found it VERY important to socialize my pups/dogs to “that kind of people”. That time I worked at the institution, so all my dogs and I often visited my work in my leisure time.
After the big institution was closed in 1983 and the clients moved to small houses around the municipality/country, I still had in mind the great moments my clients, my dogs and I had. Now I work in a workshop/activity house and now and then I take Guff with me at work. Just today I was asked: How is Guffi? When do you bring Guffi? Can we go to you house and see him? I have to admit, I can’t resist and I am totally lost when people with Downs Syndrome turn on the charm (THEY KNOW and MAKE USE OF MY WEAKNESS :D) … so of course, with my car filled up, we first drove to the baker and then to my house, and all of us, including Guffi had a great morning in my garden.

I am so privilege; I can do therapy work in my working hours (if it counts as therapy work ;)) and train SchH in my leisure time.

[ August 10, 2001: Message edited by: damp ]

[ August 10, 2001: Message edited by: damp ]

[CarolineS]

Damp,

I would say that it certainly qualifies as therapy work. :) You've got the interesting perspective of seeing your dog in both lights, in SchH and in therapy.

Some people think that it is easy for a dog to be a therapy dog. They figure all that is needed is a dog that will run up to everyone in sight, giving kisses. I've even had comments that my dog isn't a "real" Rottweiler because she's a therapy dog.

Therapy dogs may not do bite work and tracking, but they have to be very obedient, under control at all times, and be confident around unfamiliar objects, loud noises, different smells and strange people. Maggie has been run over by a crash cart, has had a patient grab her paw and almost wrench it off, has been screamed and cursed at, been cried on, been stepped on, just to name a few of the things she has encountered when visiting. Through all of this, a therapy dog is expected to remain quiet and calm.

I think Rotts that do therapy work qualify as "real" Rotts, don't you. ;)

[SarasMom]

Amen Caroline!

Anyone who thinks any dog who's "huggable" can be a therapy dog is dead wrong. Weak nerved dogs need not apply! I could make a long list of strange, scary and even painful things that Sara has endured while visiting. You do your best to protect your dog, but STUFF happens. Needless to say, the dog must maintain composure at all times. Yep, it's real work. ;)

[damp]

Originally posted by CarolineS:
<STRONG>


Therapy dogs may not do bite work and tracking
</STRONG>

Why not?

[CarolineS]

I think there is a little misunderstanding of the English language here. ;) I'll try to explain the difference between "may" and "can". A lot of English-speaking people don't understand it. LOL

In saying "therapy dogs may not do bite work and tracking", I meant that not all therapy dogs choose to do this. If I'd said "therapy dogs can't do bite work and tracking" I would have meant that therapy dogs are not physically capable of doing it or are forbidden to do it.

What I was trying to get across was that a lot of people don't realize how physically and mentally demanding therapy work can be for a dog. Some uneducated people think the only place a Rottweiler can prove itself is in a sport that involves bite work, like SchH. Just because a dog does not compete in SchH does not mean that it is not a "real Rottweiler." Since your dog does both, I thought it was good that people could see that it takes a solid, stable temperament to do either thing successfully.

I hope I haven't confused you further. The English language can be very difficult. It's completely illogical. Though I must admit, your grasp of English is a whole lot better than my grasp of Danish. ;)

[damp]

CarolineS,
Thank you for the explanation and the language teaching…I really need it :o) :D

Now it make sense!

[ August 11, 2001: Message edited by: damp ]

[Silvana]

My Dobe, a rescue, is a therapy dog with TDI. We visit assisted living facilities where he is very popular with the residents. They like him because he is tall and they don't have to bend over to pet him, and he is very gentle and calm. He also carries a basket and wears costumes on holidays. Residents talk about pets they used to have and look forward to our visit. Some of the staff are afraid of him because of his breed but once they know him are o.k.
I think his best work is when we are out in public and people and children are charmed by a "big scary breed". He is very obedient and friendly with other dogs and people, especially children. They get the hugest smile on their faces when they can walk a dog that is bigger than they are .

[pmgal]

Now this is a subject I am interested in. Where in my community do you think I could go to have Vesta evaluated to do therapy work. It would be nice to have her certified in this type of work. For those of you that do not know, she's my foster girl. Looks like she will be with me awhile till she loses weight and because of her angelic attitude, I think this type of job would be excellent for her. Someone please give me an idea of where to start. thanks, Sandi in VA
Oh I wanted to rate this thread, I think it's a really good one, but the forum has changed and for some reason my opinon is not allowed :(

[2rotties2luv]

I'm glad you're interested in doing therapy work with your rottie, and I'm glad to help you get started. First of all, check out these two websites:

www.deltasociety.org for Delta Society (see Pet Partners)

www.tdi-dog.org for Therapy Dogs International

The Delta Society requires you to complete a short home study course as a requirement for certification. You and your dog must also pass a skills and temperment evaluation. The web site will also provide you with the names of certified evaluators in your area. Usually the evaluators will answer your questions and may even mentor you through the process.

TDI also requires a skills and temperment evaluation for certification, but I don't know what their other requirements might be.

Therapy work is hard work for both human and dog - but it's also very rewarding. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have and/or PM me if you like !