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Posted by KDiamondDavis on January 07, 2003 at 12:40:17:
In Reply to: How old before becoming a therapy dog? Kathy? Linda? posted by gracie on January 06, 2003 at 18:16:13:
:As you know, I am training my golden retriever puppy to be a service dog for my son, who has autism. My daughter and I have been talking about how cool it would be to also certify him for therapy. The priority is to complete his service training, but I would like to start looking into the therapy certification as well.
:Who do I contact? How long of a process is it? What's the right age to start the process? Beau is still pretty goosey around people, so he definately needs to mature a bit.
:Kathy or Linda, would like your feedback...Thanks!>>>>
There can be some conflict between a dog working as an assistance dog and working as a therapy dog. I would train for the assistance work first and consider therapy dog work only later if it seems appropriate with his temperament, the work you need from him, and his ability to "switch."
As an assistance dog, he needs to be keyed in to his person, and ignore other people. As a therapy dog, he needs to be outwardly oriented, looking to make friends with the people he meets. It can be unfair to the dog to ask him to do both, and it can jeopardize the safety of the person the dog is assisting. Those people who do both successfully are usually experienced, skillful handlers with extremely confident dogs.
Sometimes people view therapy dog visits as a good way to improve a dog's socialization, but this can badly backfire. The people you visit on therapy dog visits may actually mistreat the dog! Therapy dogs need to be socialized, trained and confident before they ever start therapy dog visits.
Therapy dog testing is not done before one year of age, since a dog's temperament keeps shifting--often dramatically--prior to that age. Some dogs are not mature enough for testing at a year, and this would include some Goldens. There are various registries that do the testing, and the easiest to use is usually the one most active in your own community. Ask local obedience instructors who to contact--they usually know.
Therapy dogs do NOT have the public access rights of an assistance dog. Therapy dogs can only go where all dogs can go, or where they have been invited--not into restaurants, grocery stores, schools, etc., unless there is a scheduled therapy dog visit and the dog has been invited. With an assistance dog that is properly trained and working with a person who has a disability, there is a public access right to take the dog to places open to the public. With a therapy dog, there is not. So, registering the dog as a therapy dog would not help with this. Certification is probably not the best term to use when describing therapy dog testing. Therapy dogs have to be registered and that registration renewed annually--which requires the dog stay active on therapy dog visits unless dog/handler are taking time off due to illness--in order to remain therapy dogs. So, that's not a certification in the sense of being a one-time thing. It's not a title, either. It's another job that dogs and their handlers can do.
Since your plan for the dog is assistance work, I really would stick to that first and not try therapy dog work until the dog is working very well as an assistance dog. The foster pups being raised by other families for assistance work are sometimes taken on some visits during their first year, but then they go for formal training and they go to a new person as an assistance dog. The dog's life and training change so completely that those early visits to health care facilities would not confuse him. Living in the same home with the same people would be very different for the dog.
Like I said, it can be done, but I think you'd be wisest to wait on considering therapy dog work until he's completely established as a solid assistance dog.
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinarypartner.com