The Human-Animal Solutions formula:

Practice, Results, Peace of Mind

What Makes a Good Therapy Dog?

As Patricia McConnell says, “Not all people would make a good therapist; not all dogs make a good therapy dog.” People often ask me whether or not their dog or puppy would make a good therapy dog. In the first place, it is important to emphasize that the dog – or other animal – is only one part of the team. The handler is often more important than the animal in setting the team up for success! Nonetheless, here are some general things to look for in an animal who might enjoy visiting people with his/her handler in a volunteer capacity. (Desired characteristics in a therapy animal who works with a professional therapist can be different.)

Some of those characteristics are largely a matter of personality (or temperament); others can be affected by training. If the animal is physically and emotionally sound, then often the training can follow – if the handler is willing to do so!

I prefer to focus on the positives.  At the same time, I have discovered through experience that sometimes people need a list of negatives to really understand a subject.  As a result, the following list includes characteristics that are not appropriate for a therapy dog.  If your dog has these attributes, please consider a different job for your dog:

• Overly enthusiastic
• Fearful
• Guards resources (toys, food, you, etc.)
• Focuses on you more than on others
• Licks others frequently or drools a lot
• Aggressive
• Health concerns

If you’re considering doing therapy-dog work as a volunteer, complete this Self-Evaluation Questionnaire about you and your dog to see where you stand.

What Makes a Good Handler?

There are several principles of handling that help you be a supportive handler for your dog (or other animal), whether your dog is a therapy dog or your companion. These are called the STEPs of Teamwork^®. The following information is excerpted with permission from the book, Teaming with Your Therapy Dog, by Ann Howie (West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 2015).

Be Fully Present

Being present (centeredness) is the foundation on which all the STEPs are built.  Being fully present is about focusing one’s attention, emotions, and senses on participating fully in the here and now. 

Maintain Close Proximity

Proximity means the physical distance between you as handler and your therapy dog. Without hovering, close proximity allows you to know more about what is going on with your dog than if you are a distance away.  This provides the information you need to support your dog as well as to maximize the effectiveness of the visit for the client.  Maintaining close proximity helps your dog feel (literally) that you are there for her.  Therapy-dog work is hard!  Therapy dogs thrive and feel less stress when their handlers provide adequate support for their work.

Keep Your Eyes on Your Dog

While visiting with your therapy dog, your job is to have your eyes on your dog more than on the client.  You certainly must be aware of the client’s needs and preferences as well as what’s going on in the environment and how that might affect your visit with the client.  But your focus must be on your dog.

Stay in Touch with Your Dog

When you maintain close proximity to your dog, it is easy to have your hand on your dog.  You get a tremendous amount of information from having your hand on your dog.  Since it is your job as a therapy dog handler to protect your dog from undue stress, you need to take advantage of every tool at your disposal that helps you perform your job with integrity.  Being conscious of your touch and using it in a purposeful way is one such powerful tool.

Speak to Your Dog Conversationally

The way I speak to my dogs is one aspect of behaving with respect and living consciously.  The same is true with the “tone” of the hand signals I use. Hand signals given in a conversational tone are most appropriate for working therapy dogs.

The STEPs can be used all together or individually. Because the STEPs are principles, they act as a guide or code of conduct for handlers rather than a law that dictates specific behavior. Not every situation calls for using all STEPs together, but the more you practice teaming with your dog, the more you will find yourself using more of them together. Using one or a few enhances your teamwork, and with practice, everyone gets better.

Training for Therapy Dog Work

I offer training for people who wish to train their dogs for therapy dog work (AAI), either as a volunteer or to work with them professionally in their therapy practice. Animals other than dogs can become remarkable therapy animals, and the training method I use is applicable to all species. However, I limit my instruction to dog handlers and their dogs because my training experience lies mostly with dogs.

I use only positively based training methods in my work with dogs.  I prefer clicker training for therapy dog work for two significant reasons:

1. It fosters a compassionate, respectful working relationship between you and your dog that is decidedly evident to clients and staff in AAI sessions.
2. It provides a positive and highly accurate method of communication between you and your dog.

I can meet with you individually (private lessons) or you and a friend can team up for semi-private lessons. Due to the extremely small size of my training room, I am unable to provide group classes.  In private or semi-private lessons, you receive the ultimate in personalized instruction and constructive feedback on your progress.

There are three important aspects of volunteer therapy dog work: the handler’s skill, the dog’s manners, and the dog’s personality.

1. Handler Skill. There are two primary areas where handlers need skill: handling their animal, and dealing with clients while handling their animal (splitting attention). Animal handling for animal-assisted interventions requires quite different skills than do other dog sports and activities. Some handler behaviors or cues that are appropriate in other settings are quite inappropriate for AAI. Further, talking and interacting with clients requires one skill set. Talking and interacting with clients while effectively handling a dog requires another skill set. As you can see, the handler must be able to do two things at once! This is where handlers need to implement the STEPs of Teamwork^®.
2. Dog Manners. The dog must be a very well-mannered dog. In general this means sitting when asked, lying down when asked, walking on a loose leash, leaving something alone when asked, staying in place briefly, taking food nicely, and being very, very neutral when meeting another dog. If your dog doesn’t already have these basic skills down pat, then take a refresher obedience course.  (In general, therapy dog training courses teach you how to apply those skills in a visiting situation; they do not teach you those skills.) Here is where the style of training can have a dramatic effect: Positive, reward-based training methods show up in your dog’s attitude about you and about people being visited. Forcing a dog to visit with people is antithetical to the essence of AAI. Handlers play a key role in helping therapy dogs be successful with these skills. How the handler does this is the difference between a team that inspires confidence and a team that merely gets by.
3. Dog Personality. Visiting dogs must LOVE all kinds of people and still be under control (see manners, above). This means that the dog must be happy (not fearful, stressed, or aroused by) being around people who look and act differently than how you look and act at home.  During an AAI session, your dog might experience rough handling, peculiar gate or movements of people being visited, angry voices, crowds of people all wanting to pet the dog at once, healthcare equipment, and more. Personality is not something that can be taught to a dog. Your dog either has the personality for this work or he doesn’t. We can help dogs feel more comfortable in situations that might be a little anxiety provoking, but we never insist that a dog love being around people in unusual environments when he really doesn’t love that.

Dogs can also change their minds about therapy dog work after being involved for a while. Have you ever discovered that a job wasn’t quite the right match for you after being in it? The same thing can happen for your dog. We must respect our dog’s choice. At the same time, handlers can learn techniques to help their dogs de-stress and cope with the stresses of working to avoid burnout.

If the STEPs of Teamwork interest you, you’ll find lots more information in Ann’s book, Teaming with Your Therapy Dog.

Contact Ann to prepare for therapy dog work.

Foundation Therapy Dog Training

The foundation of therapy dog training focuses on skills dogs and handlers need in order to work well together as a team while visiting people in facilities, including the STEPs of Teamwork.  This class prepares teams to pass therapy dog evaluations but does not include an evaluation. 

Skills I cover include:

• Fostering a therapeutic relationship with your dog
• Applying basic obedience skills in a therapeutic environment
• Meeting patients/clients appropriately and safely
• Meeting other dogs appropriately in a therapeutic environment
• Your role as a therapeutic animal handler: implementing the STEPs of Teamwork^®
• Signs of dog stress and what to do about it

Prerequisites:  Handlers must be willing to use positively based training methods.  Dogs must be at least 10 months old and know how to walk on a loose leash and stay in a quiet stand, sit, or lie down before taking therapy dog training.  (In other words, this instruction is about applying basic obedience/manners skills to a therapy environment; it does not teach basic manners.)  Dogs must work well on a flat collar or harness (no slip, choke, or prong collars).  Aggressive or reactive dogs are not appropriate as therapy dogs.

Additional private lessons cover . . .

Furthering your therapeutic relationship with your dog and perfecting your handling skills

Dealing with food, “sniffables,” and other distractions commonly found in visiting environments

Remaining safe around medical equipment (wheelchair, walker, cane)

Strengthening your dog’s focus in distracting visiting environments

Interacting safely and effectively with people who are ill, disabled, or behaviorally disordered

Safe positioning for chair and bed visits

Teaching novel behaviors

Walking along the side of a walker or wheelchair

Walking backward

Wait

Left, right, straight, and go around

Resting head on lap

Turn around

Walk on

And more. What would you like your dog to do to enhance your visits?

General Clicker Training Information

What is clicker training? You might think that there is a standard answer for that, but in a survey of the top clicker trainers in the U.S. during the summer of 2004, expert Kathy Sdao found that each trainer has his/her own slant on what clicker training is. So here is our definition: Clicker or marker training is a highly effective method of training where we communicate clearly with the dog about what “works” (gets rewarded) and what doesn’t work (gets no reward).

In addition, clicker training focuses on motivating your dog rather than forcing your dog. Most of us want a loving and respectful relationship with our animal companions. If you are uncomfortable with training methods that cause pain to your dog, or force your dog into submission, or end up with a fearful rather than a joyful dog, you will be thrilled with the results you get through clicker training. Clicker training enhances your relationship with your dog without losing performance.

As you might imagine, clicker training does not use force. This method is used to train marine mammals (think Shamu) to do the amazing things they do in shows, and it is pretty hard – no impossible – to force a killer whale to do something. As a result, people with disabilities find that they can train their dogs without having to physically position a dog or force him to do something. Children tend to catch on to this method particularly fast (much to the chagrin of their adults). We believe it is possible for everyone (who wants to) to use clicker training effectively.

One of the most frequent questions we receive is, “Does this mean I have to have a clicker with me all the time?” The answer is, “No.” Some people don’t even use a clicker but instead use another way of communicating with a mark! But during training sessions, it is essential to have a unique way of “marking” specific behaviors in a way that your dog clearly understands. A clicker helps with this. If you are physically unable to use a clicker, your instructor will help you find a way that works for you and your dog. Instructors also teach people how to use a tool they have with them all the time so that when they don’t have their clicker, they can still take advantage of that trainable moment to help their dog learn.

Clicker training is based on scientific principles, not guesswork or trying to figure out what makes a dog do something. (“Is he mad at me?” “Is he trying to get back at me?”) Karen Pryor is a pioneer – and guru – of clicker training in the U.S. Please view her website for excellent information.