For a dog to be certified in to be used in animal assisted
therapy, hours of training and observation are required. Any breed of any size can qualify to be an
assisted dog, but not all dogs qualify based on their traits. The most important quality of a dog is their temperament
to qualify to be a dog assistant. This
should naturally take place before training, as the dog should be non-aggressive.
They should also be able to get along with everyone such as:
Elders
Children
Females
Males
Other Animals
Other qualities they
should have included:
Patience
Friendly
Confident
Gentle
Socialization
These are very important things to consider, I once hear of a dog who was as gentle as could be, except when there was a loud noise, a bang, then they would go crazy. I wonder how they test for all these possible things that could go wrong before placing them with a child?
ReplyDeleteThere is a ton of training that goes into having a dog certified into being a therapy dog. My last blog post has a great video of the extensive training that takes place before coming a therapy dog.
ReplyDelete