Our Therapy Dog preparation class is available to all dogs who have earned their AKC Canine Good Citizen certificate or UKC Socialized Pet Obedience Test (SPOT) certificate, and who are non-aggressive to people and other dogs.

Is your dog friendly, gentle, and loving? Do you want to spend quality time with your dog while helping others? Then therapy dog volunteer work may be for you!

Therapy dog teams are trained and certified dogs and handlers who visit hospitals, nursing homes, and schools to provide comfort and companionship to needy people. Becoming a therapy dog team requires advanced training, empathy, and a regular time commitment. If this sounds like something you would like to learn more about, we are here to help!

Our therapy dog class will prepare you for your certification test by covering common hospital and nursing home policies, visiting etiquette, training requirements, and how to handle different situations you may encounter on a visit. We will show you how to support your dog and train any additional behaviors you need to brush up on.

Please note that the therapy dog test itself is not included in this class, but your instructor will help you prepare and either a mock test or visit from a therapy team evaluator will happen on Week 6 to help you make an informed decision about whether you and your dog are ready to schedule your real test. This class is designed to be repeated multiple times for teams who need it.