Making Of A Therapy Dog
by Gale Roberson

One of the reasons I first became interested in Spinoni was  because of their potential to do therapy work and love of  children. I have been involved in a small way with therapy work  Using my Spinone, Kassie, and it has been fun and satisfying.

There are several organizations which certify dogs for pet  therapy (AAA) or animal assisted therapy(AAT). Since I am  not a health professional the visits I participate in are  considered pet therapy. The organization which Kassie and I  are certified under is Therapy Dogs, Incorporated.

Some of the other nationwide organizations which certify dogs 
are The Delta Society (pet partners program) and Therapy 
Dogs International. The address for Therapy Dogs, 
Incorporated is: 2416 East Fox Farm Rd., Cheyenne, WY 82007 
Phone:307-638-3223. Delta has an extensive web site at http:// 
petsforum.com/deltasociety/dsa000.htm or they can be reached 
by calling 800-869-6898. Training includes Pet Partners 
Handling Skills, Animal Skills test, and the Pet Partners 
Aptitude Test They offer a home study course (handling skills) 
as well as workshops and the pet/owner team is then evaluated 
by one of their testers. All the organization's tests use many of 
the principles of the AKC Canine Good Citizen incorporated 
into their testing. Delta also offers certification for other types 
of companion animals.

Not all dogs are suited to do this type of work, although they 
may be perfectly wonderful family companions. Since our local 
group visits many types of facilities some dogs are more 
suitable in one venue than another. The common denominator 
in all therapy work is a dog with stable temperament and a 
desire to meet people. There may be a certain amount of stress 
in this type work so it is important for the handler to "know his 
dog" and not push him by too many visits or situations in 
which the handler knows he is not able to work effectively.

Therapy Dogs, [incorporated requires that the dog and handler 
be tested AS A TEAM. That is, another person may not handle 
your dog unless they are certified with it. All dogs are required 
to be clean, well groomed, up to date on shots and parasite 
free. TD Inc. will not do a temperament test on dogs less than 
one year of age. Dogs must be observed and tested by a 
certified Tester/Observer In addition to testing temperament, 
the team must be accompanied by the tester/observer for a 
minimum of three consecutive visits in order to assess whether 
or not it is appropriate to certify the team. Dogs are to be 
handled on a four foot leads or in the case of larger dogs, a 
traffic lead. TD Inc certified dogs will be wearing a red heart ID 
tag when working. For obvious reasons, dogs in season are 
not allowed to visit.

The temperament test for TDlnc. includes sitting politely for 
petting, accepting a friendly stranger, walking on loose lead, 
walking through crowds of both pedestrians and other dogs 
and confident reaction to normal distractions. If this phase is 
passed the dog is assessed for suitability to situations 
commonly encountered in a visit. These include, but are not 
limited to:

I - reaction to exuberant or clumsy petting (as in kids or 
stroke victims)

2 - reaction to restraint (such as hugging or holding on tightly)

3 - reaction to staggering or gesturing or loud/angry 
emotions or screaming(dog remains confident if someone 
approaches in this manner)

4 - reaction to equipment normally used in the therapy 
environment (such as wheel chairs, walkers, crutches, oxygen 
equipment) will the dog tolerate bumping (also bumping from
behind) or  crowding

6 - overall sociability. (Is the dog happy to visit people?)

Delta's test is similar to the TDluc. test also. One of the 
advantages of certifying your dog with one of these 
organizations is that when certified the team will covered by the 
organizations liability insurance, in the event an incident 
occurs during a visit. An incident can be as small as a bruise or 
a scratch on an elderly person that turns into an abscess 
requiring medical attention and is not necessarily the 
occurrence of an aggressive act.

The other big advantage of using your dog in therapy work is 
the chance to give something back to the community by 
sharing your best friend and to possibly break up the 
monotony of someone's otherwise uneventful day. Most of my 
work has been with the elderly in personal care homes and 
many times Kassie is the "ice breaker" to start the conversation 
or maybe to motivate a stroke victim to try and use that hand 
that doesn't seem to work right any more. My local therapy 
group had an occasion where a child that wasn't trying to learn 
to walk again (no medical reason) reached out and moved to 
visit with a dog. Spinone are larger dogs, but unlike some 
breeds they are very NON-threatening to people. They are also 
tall enough so that people in wheel chairs or in bed can reach 
them without having them on the bed or having to bend over. I 
have had quite a few people that have wanted to hug and kiss 
Kassie and she has been MORE than happy to oblige. One 
person wanted her to spend the afternoon to watch TV Spinoni
(something most Spinoni are good at!) Try it - I highly 
recommend it!

-Gale Roberson and Kassie (aka ARBA CH Risky Business Kassandra)