Therapy dog training explained

Therapy Dog Training is the specialized training that a dog is made to follow in order to train the dog to help give comfort and love to sick patients in hospitals, lonely old senior citizens in their retirement homes, patients at nursing homes, young kids at their schools, to disabled and handicapped people, to people with learning difficulties, to people who are living in stressful situations like areas that have become devastated by disasters and basically people suffering from any kind of trauma who needs a companion to help alleviate their stress and loneliness and their need for love. Therapy trained dogs prove once again why dogs are considered man’s best friend.

Dogs that have gone through therapy dog training come in all breeds and in all ages. However, there is a little catch as the therapy dogs have to have a good temperament and as such, not all dogs are suitable for undergoing therapy dog training. A well suited therapy dog has to be very calm and friendly, should have a lot of patience, has to be gentle natured and must have the capability to adjust comfortably in all sorts of situations. A good therapy dog has to have the capability to enjoy interactivity with humans and should be able to keep itself content with clumsy petting and handling as some of the people it goes around to help cheer up are not able to give it the proper petting and careful handling.

What happens during therapy dog training?

The therapy dog training familiarizes the dogs with the concept of allowing unfamiliar people to come in contact with it and makes it learn to try to enjoy that contact. It is this very stage of the therapy dog training that consists of most of the training as the therapy dogs primary task is to get in touch with people it is not familiar with and helps to comfort them. The therapy dog training teaches the dog to accept getting lifted onto some unfamiliar person’s lap and remain there comfortably and to allow people to hug or cuddle them. An added benefit that therapy dogs can do is performing tricks for the intended audience’s amusement which helps a lot in the process of cheering the people.

Man’s best friend has been dog for a very long time and therapy dog training turns that very same friend into an even more helpful friend who can stay true to the other proverb that a friend in need is a friend in deed and prove conclusively that dog is indeed man’s best companion.