How to Prepare Your Pup For Being a Therapy Dog

Last year, I had the privilege to meet Maisie, a gorgeous Newfie (Newfoundland dog), and her mom, Kristin Julcher. Kristin and her Certified Reading Assistance Dog Maisie help students improve reading fluency, while also building comprehension skills and written expression. Kristin and Maisie volunteer for the SitStayRead Program.

I asked Kristin if she could provide us some tips on how to prepare a dog to become a therapy dog. Here are some of the tips Kristin and Maisie shared with us:

🐾   The first step is to know your dog’s temperament. It is essential to know if they are suited to meeting children and people in loud, unfamiliar or chaotic environments. Therapy dog candidates should be calm, and friendly to strangers. Also, the dog should be able to adapt quickly to new situations.  They need to be able to adjust rapidly to sounds, noises, smells, equipment and unfamiliar places like schools, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and libraries. 

🐾   Socialize your dog. The idea of socialization is to help your pup become familiar and comfortable with all types of sounds, smells, people, sights, environments. The earlier, the better. Experts recommend starting socializing from 7 weeks to 4 months of age.

🐾   Train your dog on basic obedience commands. It is essential that your dog knows the basic obedience commands. These behaviors are needed for therapy work. In the U.S the Canine Good Citizen Certification is required.

🐾   Obtain advanced obedience training. Advanced training includes distraction training. Dogs learn to ignore other dogs, loud noises, wheelchairs, strollers, crutches, and hectic environments. Therapy dogs need to be able to stay in an extended sit or down (despite distractions) until they are given a release command.

🐾   Enroll your dog in a registered therapy dog class or group. Registered therapy dog groups will provide the needed training, support, and education to the dog teams. Each dog team is objectively evaluated (the dog as well as the handler) to ensure that they are qualified to do the work.

If you want to learn more about Maisie and her exciting journey as a certified reading dog visit her site to learn more about the Sit Stay Read Programs click here.