Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t stop me and say “I have the friendliest dog, she should be a therapy dog…she just loves everyone.” My question to them is always “how does she show you she is friendly?” They proceed to tell me she runs up to people, wagging her tail excitedly, jumps on them and licks their face or barks a friendly greeting.”
Or they say “my dog just loves children.” So my next question is “Which children?” Your own, your grandchildren or neighbor’s children? Is your dog friendly with unfamiliar children? And which age? Babies, toddlers, tweens, teens? They are all different so it’s important to know if tiny crying babies frighten your dog or teenagers are too rough with your dog.
Then I will usually lean down and calmly put my hand out for a quick sniff. The dog everyone said was so friendly shows no interest in this new person at all. The owner says “she never does this she is just shy with certain people.”
Or their may try to hide behind their owner. Then the owner may actually push their dog towards me saying “he never does this, he is so friendly with everyone.”
This reaction is not desirable for therapy dogs from the dog or the handler. To be a solid animal-assisted therapy dog consistency and reliability is the key. The dog has to truly be interested in new people, want to be with them, want to investigate new surroundings and experiences, be consistent in their steady temperament and not afraid. The dog wants to go towards newness on his own and not be pushed by his handler.
And we want the handler to be solid as well. Calm, have an outstanding relationship with their dog, be able to control their dog and guide their dog, be able to bring out the best in their dog and be the successful volunteer at the other end of the leash.
So what does it take to be a great therapy team?
We look for these traits in the Handler:
- Have a genuine interest in people and not be put off by therapeutic settings
- Have good communication skills with clients and their dog
- Be natural in their interactions with people and be non-judgmental
- Have complete intuition regarding their dog’s behaviors and signals
- Be confident in their ability to predict their animal’s behavior and control it
- Be friendly, smiling, making eye contact all the while watching their dog
- Demonstrate gentle interaction with their dog and people, never abusive or distracted
- Be patient, relaxed and flexible
- Praise, encourage and reassure their dogs without using treats or toys
- Understand that as the human end of the leash they are as important, if not more, in the volunteer team
Then we look to the dog. The dog should:
- Have a basic level of training to ensure that it is reliable, predictable and controllable, even in small, noisy spaces with lots of sounds, smells and people around
- Have a reliable temperament and behave well under stress and any circumstance
- Never be reactive in a negative way to people or other animals
- Never be vocal or overly effusive when greeting new people or dogs
- Have reactions that his handler is aware of and can control such as jumping when doors open towards him unexpectedly
- Remain under his handler’s control when something new or odd occurs. Emergencies happen all the time in the field, new sounds, people rushing by and the dog has to respond to his handler when all else is busting loose around him
- Never show fear, aggression, shyness
- Always turn towards the voice calling him and make eye contact
- Never hide behind his owner
- Be comfortable walking calmly on a loose leash by handlers’ side, never pulling or lagging behind
- Be tolerant of handling and actually love it
- Have a relaxed body and welcome every new touch
Delta evaluates the handler and dog as a team and the handler’s score supersedes that of the animal. Because we turn to the handler to lead the team we must have the utmost confidence that they know their animal, and can be 100% responsible for the animal’s behavior. A strong dog with a weak handler is not a suitable Delta Pet Partner team.
To learn more about Delta Pet Partners and the Las Vegas team, or schedule an Orientation and Pre-Evaluation visit:
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