If you’re thinking about starting canistherapy with your four-legged friend, but you don’t know whether you would manage, here you will find a brief overview of the characteristics your dog is supposed to have and what he should all know.
Some of us would perhaps like to help others, but they have no means to do it or they don’t know that they actually possess any such means. One of those could be even your dog friend. Of course that not every dog is suitable for therapy and in the same fashion, not every dog handler has the necessary predispositions. So how can you tell whether you have a potential dog therapist at home?
The dog naturally has to be in good health condition and older than 15 months.
Character
You can practice canistherapy with a dog of any breed (of course even with a mixed breed) and of any size. What matters is the up-bringing, training and especially the dog’s character. That’s where it all starts. The dog must be calm, composed, he must naturally love contact with people. He mustn’t lack a considerable dose of patience. Without these characteristics, you simply won’t make a therapist out of a dog, not even standing on your head.
Up-bringing
However, the mentioned characteristics themselves aren’t enough either. For the dog to become a therapist, he has to have undergone good up-bringing and socialisation, he also must be perfectly obedient. He mustn’t fear new sounds and environments and has to manage situations that occur in a calm manner.
Training
The last thing on the list is the training. But it’s nothing unusual. A therapeutic dog must master basic obedience the same way, as any other dog should. That means recall, sit, down, stay and walk beside you. Every other command that he masters, such as fetch or give a paw, is, of course, a bonus. The main thing is for the dog to obey not only calmly, but also to be able to do so in a hectic place among people. And naturally, for him to listen always the first time.:-)
Since the basic content of the work of a dog therapist is his stroking and cuddling, he has to be used to it and has to take it calmly even from strangers. Also get the dog used to a slight pulling of his tail and ears, for him to be prepared if this should happened during therapy.
It is also necessary to teach the dog how a game is interrupted when he has to become calm. Another thing, and a very important one, that the dog must master, is positioning. You can also use some dog schools for training, which offer special skill trainings of canistherapy dogs.
Exams
If you think that you are ready to become canistherapy partners with your dog, you can try to pass an exam. Every company chooses the disciplines of the exam on its own and they may differ. First, choose the company that you would like to work for as a canistherapist and take a look at their examination rules. You can have a look at an example here. You can train for the individual disciplines before the exam itself.
And then just best of luck at the exam!
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