Therapy Animals

[SeramaLife]

I was in the process of getting my pet rooster, Buckeye, registered before he died.

 

[muddyhorse]

My Weim Jake has been a certified therapy dog for 6 years. We trained at support dogs of St. Louis. I had to retire him this year at the age of 10 he began having a lot of health issues including seizures. As part of our final he had a two minute down stay with a jelly donut between his paws

In our 6 years we have had to deal with people with no clothes on, ( she was just excited to see the dog). We used to visit the psychiatric ward at the local hospital which dealt with people in crisis, we had a patient become violent and approach yelling, we have had plenty of loud noises patients drop stuff all the time. Jake has sailed through it all with incredible grace.

Now the chihuahua Nibbler visits she snuggles with he people in their beds
The dog fairy recently left this boy at our house

I'm hoping he can step into Jakes collar one day, the dogs have to be 18 months before they can start TOUCH dog training.
Here is the pack

 

[Becky89*]

I found an instructor now I have something Rocket and I can work on during my christmas break

 

[peepacheep]

Muddyhorse, Jake looks like a wise old soul. Always good to hear how these dogs can take new and unusual experiences in stride. Sounds like Jake brought a lots of comfort to people. What a good dog! And Nibble, what a sweetie! So nice she can snuggle in beds with folks. My Labs are way to big to do that and sometimes they are too short for people to reach from their beds. A 2 minute down stay with a jelly donut between the paws? That would be very tough one for my Labs, a mop would be needed to clean up drool! Good luck with your new dog, each dog has their own unique gifts to the work.

Becky89, So glad you found a local instructor! Please keep us posted!

 

[Brindlebtch]

Quote:
Nah, its actually a lot of fun, if you have a dog with a good temperament!

We have only had 1 dog we didn't have tested, because she was sound sensitive and we knew she would pass. A lot of dogs pass, with some training!

 

[Becky89*]

So Rocket and I've begun to work on his issues again and I was wondering if there's something else I can use other than treats. I read that you can use treats during the test. Can you use anything such as a Squeeky toy? The minute I bring out the penguin he focuses on it like its the only thing in the room.

 

[peepacheep]

I believe treats can not be given during the test or even carried by the handler. I think the same goes for toys during the evaluation. I use both training though. You might want to check with your local instructor on this. For training can you make a noise like clicking or a smoochy sound that Rocket can come to associate with the penguin? I have used treats and toys as rewards when training my dogs to looks focus or look at me when I make either of those sounds. Hope this is helpful.

 

[Becky89*]

Quote:
I can make the noise but it seems to wear off after awhile......