Therapy Dogs

What is a therapy dog?

Therapy dogs are trained to visit with people in a variety of settings (e.g. hospitals, airports, assisted living facilities, schools, fire stations, etc.) to help provide comfort and connection. There’s lots of interesting data on the ways therapy dogs improve people’s moods and health (2024 review paper here. Therapy dogs are not protected by the law, like service dogs, so they must be welcomed into a facility through planned visits. Some places have a “facility dog” which is usually a therapy dog who stays at that location and works regularly with those employees or patients.

How do you train a therapy dog?

Dogs who excel at therapy dog work tend to greatly enjoy physical affection, have a proclivity for social connectivity, possess strong environmental confidence, and are able to remain calm in the presence of people in distress. Mostly, therapy dogs self-select, and we humans just offer them training support to learn how to politely and safely navigate the spaces they visit. At Flexible Pet Solutions, we’re happy to help customize a training plan for teams interested in pursuing therapy dog work.

If you’re outside of our training area, Therapy Dogs International offers wonderful instruction, certification, and visitation scheduling. For those outside their training areas, too, a great place to begin is the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizenship coursework and certification. Finding other local therapy dog programs near you can be a great way to connect with your community, too.

How do you schedule a visit with a therapy dog team?

For teams who have trained with the Pawsitive Therapy Dogs program, you can email our Volunteer Coordinator Jennifer Dodd (JennyDodd@sbcglobal.net) to request visitation dates. This program is entirely volunteer, so visitation dates are limited and we ask for a minimum of one month notice. At this time, we only have large dogs (40-80lbs) certified, but we hope to welcome smaller dog teams soon.