Royal passed the CGC!/Therapy dogs anyone?

Im very proud of my little monster. We went to PAWSwalk today, a big event for a local shelter, and they had an area to take the CGC test. So after much deliberation I decided to go for it. And... Royal passed with flying colors! He aced everything and was definitely on his best behavior (phew!) lol.

In other news, we had our first intermediate obedience class today. Its at the training studio I work at so my good friend/colleague is teaching the class which is fun. Its great practice to have other dogs around, plus to be in the studio which is pretty much Royal's favorite place to go, but we also go out in the city and practice leave it, heel, stay, recall, etc with all the distractions of the real world. Its nice to have that time to practice and just focus on his training and goals for an hour. Plus its great having other people help set up different training situations.

My goal is to pass the delta society pet partners test in January when Royal is old enough, so he can be a therapy dog. Im really proud of where he's at right now, but he is defintely a much different dog to train than Brock which at times is frustrating. Though the things that make training a challenge sometimes are also some of the key things that make him a great therapy candidate over Brock.

Are there any PTers that do therapy work?? Im really curious to know more about what its really like. I think Id most enjoy working with kids, Royal is so great with them too. Im thinking of maybe starting with Reading With Rover, a program we have here that promotes literacy in kids. I will likely end up taking a course on training the *handler* how to be a pet partner; theres a great class I found in the area that offers it and it focuses on preparing the handler for doing therapy work. ANYHOO, so any info/tips/advice on what to expect from TD work is welcome!

thanks

Good job on passing the CGC! How old is Royal now?

Therapy dogs is something that I have always wanted to do with my dogs, but I can't. The organizations require vaccines that I do not and will not give my dogs. Otherwise Nova and Buck would already be certified. Actually Buck passed the test last year at just under 8 months old (I was encouraged to take it at the same time as CGC even though I knew we couldn't do anything with it) but then the evaluator realized he was too young and couldn't actually pass him, even though he aced everything. If Royal passed the CGC, the Delta test shouldn't be a problem. Good luck :)

How exciting for you! Great job, Royal!

I did pet therapy with my cat, Sparkle, for almost 2 years. We regularly went to a local nursing home. It was so wonderful, and sad, and exciting, and everything.

The home we went to had 4 floors, one was an Alzheimer's floor. We tried to get to all floors on each visit, over 3 hours. We went in and out of each room, visitng with anyone who wanted to see us.. You get to know "Nancy" loves cats, "Doris" is afraid of cats (but will walk along with you and chatter non stop), and Daniel just wants to sit with the cat on his lap. The hard part was showing up one week and searching in Room 218 for "Nancy," only to learn that she "left us" since your last visit. :( Mostly, after asking permission (which you do each time) I'd place Sparkle on the bed next to the patient, and let them chatter away to her. She is very good about keeping secrets! They'd tell her about the cats (and dogs) they had as children, and when they were raising their own family. They'd talk about the cat their daughter (or son) is caring for until they can leave this place and return to their own home. Everyone, every visit, asked her name, age, type of cat. They seldom knew my name, and could care less! (You do introduce yourself each visit.)

We had some touching moments. A woman who had recently arrived, her husband had passed on, and she had not spoken a word to anyone since she got there. She was that upset. Well, I cautiously approached, and not getting a NO, I placed Sparkle next to her. Over the ext 10 minutes she opened up and started talking to the cat, about how she missed her husband who had just passed, her home, the food wasn't what she was used to, etc. After our visit, she settled in better.

Another time, I set Sparkle on the bed next to a woman paralyzed from the neck down. The attendants had purposedly set her on her back for the time of our visit. She and I were talking, and she interrupted herself to say she could feel Sparkle purring, on her body, right through the bed clothes. She had tears in her eyes.

Then there was the woman who had Sparkle in her lap and decided she was keeping her; set off down the hall in her wheelchair, Sparkle getting a ride, and me dumbfounded! Training didn't teach us how to chase a wheelchair! :D

The Alzheimer's floor was also amazing as people who didn't know their own children remembered Sparkle from visit to visit! Some would meet us at the elevator, they were that excited.

Sparkle is the only cat I've had who had the right personality for this. She loves being petted and told how beautiful she is! She purrs and nestles in to anyone who adores her. I found it much harder, as I had the same conversations with the same people each time, and of course, the ones who passed, well, the longer you'd been visiting them the harder that was. You never know their last names so you never saw the obit in the newspaper. Ultimately, we stopped because I couldn't take it anymore; Sparkle was still willing.

A few times, we went to another home to cover for someone on vacation. That one, you did NOT go to the separate rooms. Rather, anyone interested was brought in to the common room and all the pets were in the room as well, all at the same time. You just worked your way along the line (like a wedding reception!) stopping when you had interest. Some only wanted dogs, everyone wanted time with the bunny (we only had one in the program).

We had people doing hospice and children's cancer wards at hospital, each of those required extra training for the person (not the pet).

Hope this gives you some insight!

Congratulations to you both :D. Good luck with any future training, i hope you achieve all of your goals.

Wooooos, Royal! Congratulations, little dude! Good luck with the rest of your classes, too. :D
That's very exciting. I've often thought about having Star do theraapy dog visits - she has the right personality. We took her to see my husband's aunt in a nursing home & she loved it. Many people stopped to pet her & talk about their own dogs. Now that we're here in RI, I found a pet shelter nearby that does Canine Good Citizen testing.

Freedom, reading about your experiences brought tears to my eyes, what a lovely thing for the residents!

I'm in a local Therapy Pet organization with Giselle. Because I'm the only volunteer younger than 18, I'm like a "pilot program" by myself so the coordinator and I always have to nit pick at my options. I visited an elder housing facility a few times, and it was just heartbreaking for me to walk in there. But seeing the astonished smiles on some of the seniors' faces lit up my heart in a way that I'll never forget. I have never felt so much love and empathy for others until this experience and I highly recommend anybody with a well-behaved to do it. Lately, though, we've been participating in PAWS to Read programs where young children read stories to the TDs. Giselle is pretty much perfect for this since her lifelong pasttime is sleeping... :rolleyes:

As long as Royal is confident in all situations and does not react to strange equipment, people, or situations, he should do well. And as long as he can listen and obey in these situations, you'll be fine.

I chose not to do it with TDI or Delta because the group I'm with is very close-knit and intimate and I *love* that. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

Congrats on the CGC, good work.
Therapy work is so rewarding. Ask about titer tests for you dog instead of the shots, I think this would be acceptable (in some places the titers are recognized). And you wouldn't have to give up your dream of doing therapy work.

Thanks!

Freedom- that is amazing, I imagine it could get difficult emotionally, but some of your stories are inspiring. I dont know that I personally could handle working with the elderly or mentally ill, at least not now. I will likely start off slow, which is why Im interested in Reading with Rover. I think itd be a good start.

Giselle- Sounds like your PAWS to read is like our Reading With Rover. Royal too pretty much just lays around all the time. lol There was a time a few weeks ago when I took him into the mall to practice some training and a swarm of little kids slowly gathered around him and he just loved it. They enjoyed giving him treats, were laughing when he sniffed at their ice cream cones (though didnt try to eat them! theyd have really reacted to that! haha), and one of them even wanted to see his teeth! haha He just laid there in the store while the kids petted him and asked endless questions about him and told me about their dogs and dogs theyve met. I really enjoyed it. And just yesterday at the dog park there was a disabled woman in a wheelchair who started talking to Royal who then calmly waltz over to her for some pets and she just lit up. He is afraid of nothing, loves everyone, can be handled anywhere even roughly, he is never hyperactive or excitable, and is pretty much calm and chill at all times except of course at the dog park. Its his calm nature that draws me to working with kids since they can be so hyper and unpredictable and he doesnt react to that energy at all which is good. The main thing we are working on now is more solid obedience with distractions and without needing treats. I know he has all the key elements to be a good theraoy dog, I just hope I can do well at it. :) Im not super chatty or outgoing, but I think I could handle and would enjoy working with kids.

I have done therapy work for 17 years. It's a wonderfully, rewarding activity and I love it. I have worked with Alzheimer patients, multi-handicapped kids, stroke and brain-injured patients, and the last six years, kids with cancer.

I have a therapy dog site for new handlers (http://therapydogs.net). It gives lots of good information that you need to get started. Also, here is a site for people who are interested in reading to dogs: http://librarydogs.com

Congratulations on passing the CGC!

gardengirl- thank you for the great links! I will check them out right now

Congratulations! All three of our dogs are Registered Therapy Dogs, and our local "Paws to Read" program is one of their favorite visits! In fact, we start the fall session tomorrow night!