Can any dog be a therapy dog?
Therapy dogs bring physical benefits to the humans they visit. They may help lower blood pressure and heart rate, reduce patient anxiety or pain, increase endorphin and oxytocin levels, and provide a general sense of well-being.
However this is not a one-sided relationship: research has shown that therapy dogs also benefit from engaging in this type of work and often gain quite a few perks out of it too, such as an increased sense of mental stimulation through reading their “patients” and helping them feel at ease amongst others, more fresh air and space to move around in after being cooped up for so long in whatever hospital they call home or someone else’s house when not on duty.
“Therapy dogs go out to hospitals, nursing homes, libraries, schools, disasters. Essentially any venue where a clientele exists and it would be helpful for the dogs to be there,” says Linda Keehn, CPDT-KA, therapy dog trainer, evaluator, and handler, and owner of Positive Canine Training and Services in New York.
Before you venture into the field of animal therapy be sure to have the proper licensing or certification. A number of organizations exist where you can prepare and register so as to work in places where people bring their dogs to perform a service.
You don’t necessarily have to have a therapy pet – you can go for a cat, chicken, pig, or just about any mammal or bird as long as it’s well behaved. This type of animal is called an animal companion in the business world.
The Delta Society (deltasociety.org) is one of the most prestigious organizations in this field but there are plenty of other respectable pet associations that specialize in these specific services no matter where you’re located.
Therapy dogs must:
A good therapy dog must be friendly, confident, gentle in all situations and must be comfortable and content with being petted and handled, sometimes clumsily.
Additionally, the dog must possess the ability to be lifted or assisted onto an individual’s lap or bed, and must also be able to sit or lie comfortably there.
Comfort Support Smiles
New York Therapy Animals is dedicated to bringing animal resources to human needs in healthcare facilities and to children in schools and libraries with the assistance of trained, licensed and insured therapy dog teams. Every day our therapy dog teams are performing acts of kindness.
During this time of COVID, we salute and appreciate all of the essential workers.
Our animal-assisted interactions community programs serve people of all ages in various socio-economic matters in areas of physical, occupational, speech and psychotherapies and special education. Environments and lives are transformed by sharing a distinctive, attentive and compassionate kind of healing through supportive volunteer advocates and their therapy animals to those in need.
We are an exclusive organization educating both ends of the leash in handler workshops, therapy dog in-person training classes and in continuing education courses. We offer extensive program placement opportunities with our partnerships for our therapy dog teams in NYC, the boroughs and Westchester. The process requires an initial investment of time and money, and then ongoing education, training and commitment.
Our therapy dog programs are administered in hospitals, day programs, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, children’s special needs facilities, shelters, supportive tenant residences, 1:1 client exposure-based therapy, schools, libraries, colleges, offices, for community outreach wellness presentations and humane education presentations, and special community events. (See below for the populations we serve.) Email Nancy for information to set up a therapy dog program in your community, facility, department, college, school, library…
We partner with the Department of Education (DOE) for the Comfort Dog Program (See our Join Us page for details) and exclusively for the Reading Education Assistance Dogs® ( R.E.A.D.®) children’s literacy support program in schools. (See our R.E.A.D. page for details)
Interested in volunteering with us without an animal in your life? What a wonderful way to share our mission and your time through our volunteer ambassador program. We offer college internships. (See our JOIN US page for details.)
New York Therapy Animals mandates the COVID vaccine for all of our volunteers with proof of vaccine.