Therapy Dog Training in Metro Detroit Area?

[kmarti32]

I'm interested in doing some training with Diesel to see if he would be a good therapy dog. He is so good with children I think he would love it. Can anyone give me a good place to start? I talked to a lady at the beach today that has two Poms that are therapy dogs. They visit nursing homes and hospitals. She told me to contact Therapaws. It looks like they only visit places near Ann Arbor. I was hoping to find something closer to Detroit. Any suggestions?

[ILGHAUS]

Call some of the local hospitals or nursing homes and ask if they have Therapy Dogs visit. If so then ask the names of the groups. Same for work with children - call children's hospitals or even go a slightly different route and check with your local libraries if they have reading programs using dogs.

You can also ask local dog clubs if they as a club or any of their members are involved in therapy work.

[Chicagocanine]

Does your dog have a CGC? CGC training is a good place to start. You can usually find CGC classes or obedience classes focusing on CGC behaviors even if you can't find a therapy dog class in your area (those are less common.)

This webpage gives a lot of information about animal assisted therapy, and also has lists of both national and local organizations and local programs all over:
Therapy Dogs Index

[ken k]

I'm in farmington hills, and a tester for T.D.Inc, you do not need any special therapy dog class's to become a therapy dog, shoot me a pm, most of the local groups like Therapaws require you to be tested and pass by T.D.Inc or TD.int