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 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 odedience.    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.

Unfortunately North Dakota does not have a certifier at this time. 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.