Resident dog & Therapy Dog question

[AbbyK9]

DH and I were on base today since he is going through the out-processing procedures. I brought Ronja along and played with her while DH went into all the places where he needed to sign out.

One of the buildings he needed to sign out from is across from the Warrior Transition Unit / Medical Hold Company where Abby and I have visited with soldiers last year, and they have since gotten a little black dog as a "resident" therapy dog. I'm not sure about the background of the dog, but it came in as a young puppy and it was being raised by the staff and soldiers at the WTU.

I was playing with Ronja when I heard a lot of barking and saw a small black dog running at us, hackling up, barking and growling. A staff member and one of the soldiers were running after it, calling it, but the dog didn't listen to them at all. I put Ronja in a down-stay (good girl!) and they eventually caught the dog and put it back inside.

Anyway, this got me to thinking ... when you visit a facility that has a resident therapy dog or that, like some retirement homes, allows people to keep pets of their own, how do you handle situations like this?

I would assume that this is very different from meeting other therapy dogs since those would be trained and well behaved (or should be), but resident dogs like this one may not have really had any training or may be aggressive or not under anyone's control.

What would be the best way to handle that situation?

[ken k]

you handled it correctly, always be on the look out for situations like this, if possible, find out ahead of time if there is a "resident therapy dog" if so, is it trained or registered as such?, then you`ll know what to expect, but always be prepared for situations like you just encountered

[Chicagocanine]

It seems odd to me that they would have a resident therapy dog who is not well behaved, loose in a facility where they may encounter many people or even other dogs.
When I think of "resident therapy dog" I think of a trained dog, possibly from a program even. I know the resident therapy dog at one of the rehab centers I've done animal assisted therapy is VERY well trained, he is from one of the service dog organizations (I think CCI) and was specifically trained for that 'job'.

[AbbyK9]

It doesn't seem odd to me at all, especially since most people (and many facilities) don't really grasp what a therapy dog is or does. Many believe that if they have a pet in the facility, it is a therapy dog because it cheers up the people living there.

The facility where Abby and I visited when we lived in northern Virginia also had a facility "therapy dog", which was essentially a pet that belonged to one of the staff members, and ran loose at the old folks' home so people could pet it. Now, we did scheduled visits there and did ask them to please put the dog up during visits since it was known to be dog-aggressive, so we've never had an issue encountering that dog during visits.

The place down here, which we've visited a few times before they got the puppy and when the puppy was little, also probably doesn't quite grasp the idea of "therapy dog". It's basically a pet that the soldiers take turns walking and petting. And it's NOT a friendly dog or a trained dog, by any stretch of the imagination. I don't even know if the dog has shots or a current license (I didn't see any on the collar when it ran at us today).

We were NOT there visiting, we were across the street while my DH was in a building across the street. I was playing in the grass with Ronja and the dog dashed out an open door, barking and hackling, at us.

[Skye'sMom]

Chris.
This can be a real problem, because as you said, many places are clueless about letting untrained resident dogs run loose. Not only can they be like the one you encountered, but they could do harm to a resident (accidental scratch, trip, etc) and our therapy dogs could be blamed. That is a huge liability.

I was visiting a facility weekly for over a year when they got a resident dog - we were often 'greeted' just inside the door by a snarling, yappy dog lungeing at us. I took Skye/Buddy (who ignored the outsider) outside and rang the bell to get the staff's attention.

Since we came at set times, they promised to contain the dog in the therapist's room before we arrived.

After the third time this did not happen, we sent a letter explaining why our teams would no longer be visiting.

We have a three foot rule between our trained therapy dogs and 6 feet between our dog's and leashed outside dogs. Loose dogs, we leave the area to keep our dogs and the clients safe.

When that cannot be maintained, we leave.

Good job catching the little critter - hopefully he will not put the facility at risk with his behavior.

[IliamnasQuest]

The nursing home in the next town over has a resident dog, and he's just a dog that someone brought in - very little training in him. When I went in with Khana on a visit, he came over hackled up some and I stepped between them and told him firmly "stop it! SIT!!" - and he did .. *L* .. and so I praised him and gave him a treat. Once he found out I had treats, he was fine with us. Khana has a wonderful personality with other dogs and so she was no problem.

I can see why places have resident dogs but it's too bad they don't have someone assigned to continuing a dog's training so that they can avoid problems. Personally I feel that dogs should be non-aggressive toward other dogs in order to be resident dogs OR therapy dogs, but I know that opinion is not always popular. It's just that in this day and age, there are dogs EVERYWHERE and it just isn't as safe to have a dog-reactive dog.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

[Brightelf]

Chris, great job-- and great job RONJA! I like that this facility has a dog for it's residents. I don't like that the dog is uncontained and can just dart out. If it isn't the dog's job to get along with other dogs, they probably aren't worried about this, but, the dog definitely would benefit from working on this issue IF it is a doggy reactivity issue and NOT just a "I'm a dog who thinks you're in my yard" issue. If it's simply territoriality, then there needs to be a fence, or everyone in the entire facility needs to understand doing "door chores" with the dog (teaching him or her door manners-- NOT allowing the dog to dash out at passersby!) is crucial. Since it isn't likely to get EVERYONE on board about working with the dog on the door issue, this may not be the right dog for that facility, if they have no fence.