Author Topic: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?  (Read 11081 times)

Offline horsepoor21

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How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« on: January 22, 2007, 10:52:24 am »
Allie is such a wild child at home , but out in public she is the exact opposite . She loves loves loves meeting new people and will sit and just lean into their arms and normally fall asleep . Heck , she slept thru the entire 4th of july parade last year , even with the sirens and everything ! So anyways , I'm really interested in doing thearapy work with her , how do I get started ? What tests does she need to pass ? Someone please point me in the right direction ! Thankyou !
-Amy
-Amy
Moose-Border Collie/Newfoundland rescue
Allie-Newfoundland
Spook-Newfoundland
Whiskey-Arabian
Wolverine-Cockatiel
Polly&Rainbow-Lovebirds (with 3 babies!)
Crush-Painted Turtle

       "Every boy should have two things:
 A dog, and a mother willing to let him have one"

Offline aggghgmom

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2007, 11:40:29 am »
OK I am certainly no expert but I think a good place to start would be the CGC canine good citizenship test.  Harley can't pass it because I'm not allowed to leave his side.

I'm sure someone with alot more knowledge than me will be able to lead you in the right direction.

Best of luck - i would love to do this with Harley but apparently I'm already trained so he doesn't need to be

Randy

Offline schelmischekitty

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2007, 11:42:25 am »
MagicM3 would be able to give you good advice.  i'm not very familiar with it, sorry!
steffanie in atlanta

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EllieAndBlu

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2007, 11:47:18 am »
I applaud you and Allie! Canine therapy makes such a difference in the lives of many. I unfortunately don't have dogs that make good candiates...  they have a few too many issues  ::)  :)

However there are some board members here who are involved in therapy programs... MagicM3(Tricia) and Dahlie (Julie) come to mind. Hopefully they can advise you.

Best of luck to you and your girl. Please keep us posted!
« Last Edit: January 22, 2007, 11:53:14 am by EllieAndBlu »

EllieAndBlu

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2007, 11:54:40 am »
That's wonderful.  Good for you.

I'm sure Tricia and Julie and Jaime will be along to help soon.

DUH, I cant believe I forgot to mention Jaime and Mr. BPO himself, Bear!  :)

Offline seaherons

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2007, 12:10:28 pm »
We are interested in Cirra becoming a therapy and reader dog.  She has passed her CGC and hopefully will pass her therapy dog test some time this Spring.  Testing and/or training will depend on what is available in your area.  Here are some pictures of Cirra practicing being calm at our local library.

Here are some website links:

http://www.tdi-dog.org/whatdo.html
http://www.deltasociety.org/home.htm
http://www.therapydogs.com/
http://www.therapydogs.net/
http://www.dogplay.com/Activities/Therapy/index.html



Offline CalistogaPyr

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2007, 03:05:25 pm »
Bo is a therapy dog and has been "employed" as my co-therapist for almost 3 years!  We are certified through a local organization www.pawsforhealing.org.  I am on the board of directors and teach the certification course 6 times per year.  I prefer the local groups as opposed to the national groups because they give you more personalized attention and guidance.  Doing therapy dog work is not as easy as it seems and there are some real benefits to having a therapy dog organzation in your area that can coach you through any difficulties that arise.  That being said, the national organizations such as TDI and Delta are wonderful resources and can provide good information and training.  The CGC-or variation of it- is required by both organizations, so that is a great way to find out if your dog is therapy dog material.  Knowing what population your dog is most comfortable with will also make the experience mroe pleasurable for your dog.  Bo is uncomfortable around small children, so we work primarily with seniors and adults with mental illnesses.  She does do well with adolescent age children, however ,and has been a great therapeutic breakthrough with troubled boys.  It's a highly rewarding way to give back to your community. 
Best of luck to you in your quest to certify your dog!! =)
Jenn, Bo & Floyd
"Be the change you wish to see in the world"-Gandhi

Offline horsepoor21

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2007, 03:09:33 pm »
Thankyou everyone for all the links ,I really appreciate it ! I know Allie is comfortable with children as she's grown up with a 5 , 3 and 1 year old !
-Amy
Moose-Border Collie/Newfoundland rescue
Allie-Newfoundland
Spook-Newfoundland
Whiskey-Arabian
Wolverine-Cockatiel
Polly&Rainbow-Lovebirds (with 3 babies!)
Crush-Painted Turtle

       "Every boy should have two things:
 A dog, and a mother willing to let him have one"

Offline pink2378

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2007, 05:58:16 pm »
I'm so excited I saw this thread.  I really really want to do therapy stuff with Lucy.  I haven't done to much research on it yet because we are still very far away from it being a possibility - we plan on starting basic obedience in a couple weeks and will be going as advanced as we can with her obedience.  Thanks for all the great information on her.  I will start dropping stuff around her and getting her used to that sort of thing!

Offline horsepoor21

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2007, 06:06:46 pm »
Julie , this is a little off topic but recently my hubby was seriously considering working at some oil rig in CO somewhere ( can you see how much I pay attention ? LOL ) and I was so excited , I kept thinking " Ooohoooh , I get to meet Julie and all her puppers " LOL But it fell thru  :-\
-Amy
Moose-Border Collie/Newfoundland rescue
Allie-Newfoundland
Spook-Newfoundland
Whiskey-Arabian
Wolverine-Cockatiel
Polly&Rainbow-Lovebirds (with 3 babies!)
Crush-Painted Turtle

       "Every boy should have two things:
 A dog, and a mother willing to let him have one"

bigdogs@5501

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2007, 07:51:20 pm »
Wow - Great to see this thread. Bailey is in classes now for Rally and the trainer said that Bailey has the personality for TD. She is going to work with Bailey on her CGC certification and then we will take if from there. I am really impressed with Bailey- Bailey has never ever gone to any classes before the Rally Class and she is just doing great. In fact she is doing as well or better than some of the dogs that have taken the class more than once. I think that it is the Newf in her- but when the other dogs are doing the exercise and she is awaiting her time to do her exercises - she curls up on the bench beside me and she falls asleep. Bailey also will do her commands and doesnt expect a treat- I always give her one- but after we are ready to sit down and let the next person get up and do the exercises. I am going to book mark the links that Julie provided.

Offline MagicM3

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2007, 10:35:57 pm »
Sorry I missed this post but it looks like you have a good foundation to start
Cirra's Mom gave you a lot of good links along with Dahlie as well.

Magic and I have been in all three National groups,but I agree that a local group can be very helpful if there is one in your area.

We are currently with TDInc and I think we are home with them.and Hopefully Falkor will be joining in about a year if he is ready and his brain catches up to his body.

A CGC is probably the best place to start and see if you need any area of issues to work on.

The tests for all three National Groups are more alike that not alike,and all are similar  or incoorperate the CGC into the test they do.

Sounds like Allie is ready to go,you just have to get there.

Tricia and the fur kids

Offline horsepoor21

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2007, 02:34:34 pm »
Julie , nope , he's still squishing all my internal organs to death  ;D I had to load a pick up full of wood the other day and I was really hoping that'd put me into labor but no such luck !   ;) You have an awesome memory though , 25th is the day !
-Amy
Moose-Border Collie/Newfoundland rescue
Allie-Newfoundland
Spook-Newfoundland
Whiskey-Arabian
Wolverine-Cockatiel
Polly&Rainbow-Lovebirds (with 3 babies!)
Crush-Painted Turtle

       "Every boy should have two things:
 A dog, and a mother willing to let him have one"

Offline horsepoor21

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2007, 09:02:28 pm »
OH my gosh , you are way too generous !!!! I would *love love love* a BPO baby blanket for Cole ! I always make a blanket for each of my kids before they're born but this time I just didn't get it done  :-[ And I've been feeling so guilty about it ! Can't ever have too many blankets anyways if you ask me ! Thankyou so much Julie ! * Cole's angel ! *  :)
-Amy
Moose-Border Collie/Newfoundland rescue
Allie-Newfoundland
Spook-Newfoundland
Whiskey-Arabian
Wolverine-Cockatiel
Polly&Rainbow-Lovebirds (with 3 babies!)
Crush-Painted Turtle

       "Every boy should have two things:
 A dog, and a mother willing to let him have one"

Offline jabear

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Re: How do I get Allie and I started in Therapy work ?
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2007, 11:14:40 pm »
Hip Hip Horray for Allie! Everyone here has give you great advice and once you get going you'll love it! Right now we're mainly working with kids at 2 different children's hospitals. I don't think there is anywhere else where you can see the kids light up like that. We also see old people who love to hug Bear. He is really easy for them to touch because he is so big.

We got our initial clearance (CGC, TD) through TDI but now work mainly with Love on 4 Paws which is an organization here in Los Angeles.

One caution though, the more exotic looking the dog the more attention they'll get. Bear gets worn out after his visits and usually sleeps for like the next 2 days just to recoup...spoil ed boy!  :)
« Last Edit: January 23, 2007, 11:15:50 pm by jabear »
Hugs,
Jaime
  Mom to one handsome black Bear.