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Therapy
Dogs International
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Shortly
after getting Hella we realized how great she was at taking on attention and
love and with her great obedience she would be great at doing visits to the
elderly. I did research and found Therapy Dogs International.
Checked and there was a local certifier. Well she was about 1 1/2
hours from us but made regular visits to a nursing home we knew of.
So we meet her there and watched her with one of her dogs, a retired show dog.
We decide Hella could do it. Agreed to meet the certifier
again in 2 weeks and she would evaluate us. We met her; and Hella
did very well. This consisted of test in the nursing home to see how
she would react to different situations. Wheel chairs, walkers, food
on the floor, load noises, plus basic obedience. She passed and we sent in the
necessary paperwork.
It was a joy to take her for visits she would bring a spark to many
eyes while we visited. I would suggest if you have a dog that is
well behaved and trained with a great temperament you
consider this rewarding task. Much of the DK training of sit and stays
works right into this.
I know of several others with DK's that take them to nursing homes for
visits. If you are interested in learning more click the tag above to go
to the Therapy Dogs International web site.
We currently do not have a certified dog, but still do visits with
our current dogs, and on occasions take the very young pups to visit
which is a joy also.
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