Therapy Dog Training: 5 Tips for Training Therapy Animals

Therapy dogs are dogs trained to bolster positive mental health by visiting healthcare and medical facilities, nursing homes, and similar places. Studies prove that animal-assisted therapy (or pet therapy) can be effective. When therapy dog teams (an owner and a pet) visit people going through hard times, there’s a measurable and positive effect on the people’s mental and emotional well-being.

Potential therapy dogs should be up to date on their vaccinations, comfortable with new people and public places, accustomed to loud noises, and eager for socialization. Many organizations can certify therapy dogs, so they and their owners can volunteer their services in the real world. The Alliance of Therapy Dogs and Therapy Dogs International are two such organizations—and while the American Kennel Club (AKC) doesn’t certify therapy dogs, it does offer supplementary training and rewards dogs with titles depending on how many therapy visits they complete after certification by another entity.

Therapy dogs are not service dogs. Therapy dogs may have permission to enter certain areas other dogs wouldn’t be, but they don’t have the same access rights to buildings that service animals do under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Service dogs are working dogs assigned to a single person to treat their disability, whereas therapy dogs visit multiple people for short periods.

While a therapy animal may double as an emotional support animal (or ESA) for its owner, the two terms are not entirely interchangeable. Owners obtain licensure for emotional support dogs, so they can keep their pets with them even aboard transportation, in no-pet housing, and so on. Therapy dogs become certified, so they can visit other people. Both designations signal that the dogs assist with people’s mental health needs beyond the normal joy brought to owners by their pets.

Therapy dogs must gain certain qualifications to begin visiting those who could use a bit of canine companionship. Consider these five tips as you train your dog to provide this much-needed service:

1. 1. Prepare early. Before your dog is even a year old, start working on basic obedience training. Strengthen good behavior through positive reinforcement. Get them up to date on vaccines. Expose them to friendly strangers often. Be sure your pet can navigate deftly around obstacles in your own house—this will come in handy when your furry friend makes their way through medical equipment, wheelchairs, and the like. A good therapy dog needs to prove itself adept at all the skills mentioned on the AKC Canine Good Citizen test (or CGC test) before certification.
2. 2. Take training classes. If you feel you could benefit from some extra help, consider taking some official therapy dog training courses. Dog trainers will help ingrain obedience skills like walking on a loose leash, sitting calmly, interacting positively with strangers, and socializing with other dogs. All of these things are necessary for your pet to obtain the therapy dog title someday.
   
3. 3. Test your pet’s skills. Choose a certifying organization and start to get your dog ready to meet its specific requirements. Passing a therapy dog test isn’t the end of the journey, but it’s a necessary step before you can even attempt to bring your pet to meet with other people in therapeutic scenarios.
4. 4. Venture out with the organization. Before you can become a licensed therapy dog handler, you’ll need to visit some places as someone shadows you and your pet. The therapy dog organization you tested with will have someone verify whether your dog can replicate all the skills tested in a real-world scenario.
5. 5. Visit those in need. After several accompanied visits, you can offer your own volunteer services as a certified therapy dog owner. Check with local hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities, and community centers to see where you and your pet partner can bring joy and positivity to those who need it most. The more visits you rack up, the more official AKC therapy dog titles you can certify for your pet.

Your dream of having a dog who understands words like “sit,” “stay,” “down,” and—crucially— “no” is just a MasterClass Annual Membership away. The only things you’ll need to train up a well-behaved pup are your laptop, a big bag of treats, and our exclusive instructional videos from superstar animal trainer Brandon McMillan.