I am seriously considering training Kodee (14 wk old GSD) to be a therapy dog. I love working w/him, and I don't know anyone personally who has any kind of working dog, including therapy dogs. I thought training him to be a therapy dog would be a fun way to get started on dog training with a specific goal to work towards. I bought the packet from The Delta Society, that explains the training goals, what the test entails, etc. He has to be a year old to take the test (I may wait til he's older depending on how he does). I hope to be able to take him to hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc if we can pass the test.

Does anyone have a therapy dog on this site? I see a lot of people w/PPD's, police dogs, etc. I realize that that probably takes a lot more time/training than the therapy dogs do, but I needed somewhere to start. I have 3 kids 6 and under, so my time to work w/Kodee is limited. I am not able to go to any clubs around here (don't even know where any are). Any input/advice would be appreciated. I'd love to eventually do a little more "hard-core" dog training. ;-) Maybe when I don't have 3 little bitty kids in the house, and I have more time.

That's a good goal, IMO.

You can start with your dog's Canine Good Citizen certification:
http://www.dogforum.org/showthread.php?t=14356
http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/training_testing.cfm

Have you seen these sites?

http://www.doglogic.com/therapymain.htm

http://www.cofc.edu/~huntc/service.html

http://www.cofc.edu/~huntc/service.html#Therarticles

http://www.inch.com/~dogs/service.html
(This last one includes service and therapy dogs.)

I have trained dogs in the past that were used as therapy dogs. They werent high drive dogs in the sense of sport dogs. They were Golden Ret.s and they were very trainable and very smart. They were easy dogs to train. My suggestion would be to get the dog out and expose it to as many things as possible. And great obedience training is a must if youre going to be taking the dog out to meet the public. Also to include working on training in public places is my suggestion. Ive taken dogs and trained them in places like the grassy medias in parking lots and places like infront of the post office with lots of people walking past.If you want a therapy dog , you can do it but get use to the idea of being a dog trainer and you will have lots of fun with it. I use to do demos for retirement homes. They really loved it and it was enjoyable.

Thanks - I have been socializing the heck out of him. He goes everywhere w/us in the car that I can reasonably take him. He meets people at the park, walking downtown, pet stores, etc. I make him sit to be petted, and he's not allowed to be mouthy (if he is, I make whoever it is stop petting him). He's been exposed to strange animals quite a bit at pet stores (they let him sniff the animals in their crates - ferrets, rabbits, etc). He's used to our cats - he's always on a lead, and so far has never tried to chase one - I praise him for leaving them alone when we are out.) I'm still training him at home, but we have moved from being indoors to sometimes doing training out in the yard w/more distractions). He's 14 wks old, and I think he's met dozens of people and been around lots of noises - big trucks, car horns, animals, other people, kids. Nothing surprises him already).

I was looking at the sites Connie listed (thanks, Connie). I think I will try to find someone around here who conducts the Canine Good Citizen test. I'd like to start working towards that, and we definitely need more obedience work.

Keep those suggestions comin'.....LOL!

 Quote: Kori Bigge

I think I will try to find someone around here who conducts the Canine Good Citizen test.

Are you near Kansas City?

http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/cgc_bystate.cfm

You can find a long list of evaluators in Kansas at this site.

Just type in your state.

Yes, I'm near KC. I found one person listed who does the evaluation in Lawrence, only about 20 minutes from here. I'm going to keep working on his obedience training at home (I have the Puppy DVD and Basic Obedience DVD's from Leerburg). Right now I don't want to put him into a class until I'm ready to "proof" his training. We have a long way to go, but he's very smart and eager to please. Extremely high food drive and prey drive helps a lot. I can use toys or food as motivational tools, which is nice.

I am thinking about doing that with my pit pup. If anyone has good info for Texas will y'all please throw it my way. She has very very good drive to please already and is very happy. I am trying to get her around kids and people. Kori if you have any suggestions that would help I am about 2 months behind you. I am getting the 2 dvds next week.

 Quote: Stephanie Lemoine

I am thinking about doing that with my pit pup. If anyone has good info for Texas will y'all please throw it my way. She has very very good drive to please already and is very happy. I am trying to get her around kids and people. Kori if you have any suggestions that would help I am about 2 months behind you. I am getting the 2 dvds next week.

If you go to David's site:
http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/cgc_bystate.cfm

...... you just type in Texas and get results of CGC evaluators near you.


Everything posted above applies, about socializing and going for the puppy's CGC.:

http://www.dogforum.org/showthread.php?t=14356
http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/training_testing.cfm

I've had several therapy dogs over the years, including my current dog. It's imperative that the dog is well socialized, has good nerves, is confident and outgoing and has solid obedience (my current guy is also training for competition OB), and of course, likes to be petted. The primary concern is always the safety of the patients, so you have to make sure that your dog isn't going to be reactive to strange noises, clumsy petting, general chaos, etc. Your relationship with your dog and understanding of his behavior and needs is really important. If you have a high-energy, high-drive dog (like mine) it's a good idea to give them plenty of exercise before inflicting them on hospitalized people, or even testing for the certification. .
Getting a young dog used to being handled EVERYWHERE, turning random people into treat-machines and exposing your dog to different environments within reasonable limits for your dog are all good preparations for future therapy work. Just make sure that you don't do too much too soon in this regard and over-stress your dog. Make it fun, as ideally this work will be fun for your dog.
A CGC test is a great place to start the testing process, though most therapy dog organizations have their own, much tougher tests. I can't stress enough how important it is for your dog to have a solid, stable temperament. If you have the right dog, it's very rewarding work. I enjoy visiting elders more than anyone; the patients are so sweet. The other piece of it for me is helping to dispel the myth that Dobermans are a 'vicious' and dangerous breed (though mine IS a great guard dog). Good luck with your future therapy dog!