How a Dog Becomes a Therapist

Have you ever asked this question? Were you just curious or were you considering your dog companion could do it? In this article, you will learn basic information – what nature the dog needs to have, what it has to handle and how to start with Canis therapy.

It’s a well-known fact that contact with dogs is beneficial for humans’ mental and physical health. Canistherapy is a treatment method with such contact and it has various uses. Dog canistherapists often go to orphanages, retirement homes, sanatoriums, hospice care institutions, institutions for physically and mentally disabled people and other similar places.

Of course, not all dogs are suitable to be therapists. If your dog shows any signs of fearfulness or aggression, you should rather focus on another activity together. However, if your dog companion is calm, well-balanced and obedient and loves contact with humans, you may consider canistherapy.

Dog therapist obviously has to be completely healthy and older than 15 months. It can be any breed or a mongrel. Its size is also not important. However, you and your dog should definitely be quite patient.

Besides suitable nature, the dog also needs to be well-socialized and well-mannered. It should be well controllable and it needs to obey the commands for the first time even in a noisy environment. It should also handle new environments, noises and situations with ease. Canistherapy is about physical contact – stroking and cuddling. The dog should be able to accept it calmly, patiently and gladly even from strangers. It is also a good thing to let the future therapist get used to slight pulling of hair, ears or skin to be ready for this kind of situation if it occurs.

Basically, the only special skill the dog therapist needs to learn is being able to stop playing and positioning. When you don’t know what to do next, you can make use of any canistherapy school that focuses on this.

If you still think you and your dog have everything necessary and you are ready to dive in, try to pass the exams you need to be able to practice canistherapy. Every company may include different disciplines, so don’t forget to check in advance what you are going into.

Related articles

First heat

If you’ve got a little female puppy at home, first heat might catch you off guard, so it’s not a bad idea to make some preparations ahead.

Dogs at work

Domestic dog is the oldest domesticated animal and it has provided accompaniment to humans for 14 thousand years at the minimum. During this time, it underwent numerous changes and a long development. All the dog breeds of today are a result of human...

Dogs and horses

I am not much of a horse person, but from time to time, I like to go horse riding. Usually, I leave my fuzzy friends at home. The presence of horses upsets them. When I was getting my dog fellows, I didn’t think about the fact that not all the breeds...

Why do dogs dig?

If you take pride in your nicely groomed garden and your dog belongs to the category of the so-called diggers, it probably doesn’t make you very happy. However, frantic digging in earth doesn’t please not even us, who wink at a few holes in the grass....

How to train calling with a whistle?

Calling a dog is without any doubt one of the most important commands that the dog should reliably master at any situation. Most often, we call the dog using the command “come”, but we can also emphasise it with a whistle. It pays off mainly in...

Five myths about dogs

I have always thought, that I know my four-legged fellows to their last hair, but there’s always something that manages to surprise me and there’s always a lot to learn from them. Some of the myths are so deep-rooted, that one doesn’t even fall upon...

How do the dogs and cats hear?

Simply put: much better, than us, humans. And cats even hear much better than dogs. But from experience, I can say, that it also depends on what and whom they want to listen to. How is it with dogs?

How to unteach your dog to beg?

Does your dog beg for food at the table? Do they beg even from strangers when you’re at a restaurant? Then you should know, that you are one-hundredth percent guilty of this yourself. If a dog learns to beg for human food, it is an educational mistake....

Dog Puzzles

When the weather is lovely rather for ducks than dogs for a longer period of time and long walks don’t come into question, my fluffy friends are getting get bored at home and start with their shenanigans. I always try to think of a home activity to...