What Do You Think??? Therapy dog for children w/cancer

harmony · 09-26-2011, 03:43 PM

I have a dog I want to use to help chlidren with cancer, with as much as he has helped me. My personal dog died 3yrs ago, and I do have the best or the best for me and my saftey, but there is another!!! My heart truely goes out to these kids who need just a little something extra and I think (God giving) I might have it, to help. Of course he is not a pure breed German shepherd but a mix (in a sort), and I have been through the classes before to have a therepy dog, but pulled back myself to what I thought it would take! I want so much to help these children!!! I do help kids in another way and out of many seen a promising result (Glory to God!) but this is really getting to me about what I should do right now. What do you think?

**MaggieRoseLee** · 09-26-2011, 10:15 PM

Not sure what you are asking exactly...

If you want to help to uplift and work with sick children with your dog, I'd continue to get your Therapy Dog certification and then work with the hospitals in your area.

Jax08 · 09-26-2011, 10:18 PM

Absolutely!

EJQ · 09-27-2011, 12:30 AM

I have to admit that I'm not exactly sure of what you are asking either. But if you are thinking of using a therapy dog to help children cope with disease then by all means continue with therapy training.

harmony · 09-28-2011, 10:15 AM

The dog I have loves people and great with kids, really good dog. Now when I got him he was very dog agressive, but doing better now still I would never trust him 100% when it comes to something like that. Do you think the dog would have a chance or not? He is not a pure breed but he is a shepherd mix, and sweet as pie when it comes to people.

Jax08 · 09-28-2011, 10:18 AM

Therapy dogs do not have to be purebred. You need to work on his dog aggression. Start with the LAT game (Look At That). That could be a concern because therapy dogs often have other dogs around them and when he is tested, the testers will be watching that. Look up Therapy Dogs International (TDI) for what tests you'll need to pass and expectations.

harmony · 09-28-2011, 10:18 AM

I did train him to be around horses, herd and he does trail rides with us some too. He is really smart and I would like to do more with him.

harmony · 09-28-2011, 10:21 AM

He has come a long way with dog aggression, he does things now he couldn't do when I took him in. When they test dogs (I have only been thru some of the work before) how do they test them with other dogs.

Jax08 · 09-28-2011, 10:29 AM

You walk up to the person with your dog in a heel. The person will be coming towards you with their dog in a heel. You will meet (dogs on the outside of both of you), PUT YOUR DOG IN A SIT FIRST! YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO THAT!, and you greet the person (shake hands, how ya doin') and walk away.

You will also be tested in crowd, that may contain other dogs if they see fit to do that. You will have a supervised separation. They put my dog right next to a small dog with a teenager holding her while I had to go somewhere that she couldn't see me ( I watched the whole thing from behind a car and the teen kept pushing on her butt to get her to sit while she was looking for me the whole time).

I was terribly not pleased with the way they conducted the test that day but we passed. I never followed through with joining TDI though.

bianca · 09-28-2011, 10:40 AM

I took my dogs litter mate through Delta Society as a therapy dog and part of the evaluation process was just in the classes. The instructor was always looking to see how the dogs were with the other dogs in the class. We had 7 dogs in our group and the classes were conducted in a really small space so if one had an issue, there was no hiding it.

09-26-2011, 03:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
harmony Elite Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 1,068	What Do You Think??? Therapy dog for children w/cancer I have a dog I want to use to help chlidren with cancer, with as much as he has helped me. My personal dog died 3yrs ago, and I do have the best or the best for me and my saftey, but there is another!!! My heart truely goes out to these kids who need just a little something extra and I think (God giving) I might have it, to help. Of course he is not a pure breed German shepherd but a mix (in a sort), and I have been through the classes before to have a therepy dog, but pulled back myself to what I thought it would take! I want so much to help these children!!! I do help kids in another way and out of many seen a promising result (Glory to God!) but this is really getting to me about what I should do right now. What do you think? Last edited by MaggieRoseLee; 09-26-2011 at 10:16 PM.

09-26-2011, 10:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
MaggieRoseLee The Agility Rocks! Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Bushkill, PA (The Poconos!) Posts: 22,215	Not sure what you are asking exactly... If you want to help to uplift and work with sick children with your dog, I'd continue to get your Therapy Dog certification and then work with the hospitals in your area. __________________ MACH2 Bretta Lee Wildhaus CGC TC TQX Glory B Wildhaus NA, NJ, NF + LOL (still) "*Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde*

09-27-2011, 12:30 AM	#4 (permalink)
EJQ Knighted Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: New York State Capital Region Posts: 2,350	I have to admit that I'm not exactly sure of what you are asking either. But if you are thinking of using a therapy dog to help children cope with disease then by all means continue with therapy training. __________________ ARABELLE vom Garringer CGC, TDI BRYNNA vom Garringer AKC STAR PUPPY, CGC, TDI AHREN vom Garringer (crossed over December 30, 2011) B'ELANNA vom FlaglerHaus CGC, SAR (crossed over March 4, 2011) MISSY (crossed) MERCEDES (crossed) DION (crossed)

09-28-2011, 10:40 AM	#10 (permalink)
bianca Knighted Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 3,328	I took my dogs litter mate through Delta Society as a therapy dog and part of the evaluation process was just in the classes. The instructor was always looking to see how the dogs were with the other dogs in the class. We had 7 dogs in our group and the classes were conducted in a really small space so if one had an issue, there was no hiding it. __________________ Miss Molly Moo (aka The Piranha/The four legged Mouth) GSD 31/10 Raennik Hassan (Cooper) GSD 19/10/11 Paris Tabby Cat 15 years Texas Tabby Cat 15 years

09-26-2011, 10:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
Jax08 Crowned Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NNE PA Posts: 14,330	Absolutely!

09-28-2011, 10:15 AM	#5 (permalink)
harmony Elite Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 1,068	The dog I have loves people and great with kids, really good dog. Now when I got him he was very dog agressive, but doing better now still I would never trust him 100% when it comes to something like that. Do you think the dog would have a chance or not? He is not a pure breed but he is a shepherd mix, and sweet as pie when it comes to people.

09-28-2011, 10:18 AM	#6 (permalink)
Jax08 Crowned Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NNE PA Posts: 14,330	Therapy dogs do not have to be purebred. You need to work on his dog aggression. Start with the LAT game (Look At That). That could be a concern because therapy dogs often have other dogs around them and when he is tested, the testers will be watching that. Look up Therapy Dogs International (TDI) for what tests you'll need to pass and expectations.

09-28-2011, 10:18 AM	#7 (permalink)
harmony Elite Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 1,068	I did train him to be around horses, herd and he does trail rides with us some too. He is really smart and I would like to do more with him.

09-28-2011, 10:21 AM	#8 (permalink)
harmony Elite Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 1,068	He has come a long way with dog aggression, he does things now he couldn't do when I took him in. When they test dogs (I have only been thru some of the work before) how do they test them with other dogs.

09-28-2011, 10:29 AM	#9 (permalink)
Jax08 Crowned Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NNE PA Posts: 14,330	You walk up to the person with your dog in a heel. The person will be coming towards you with their dog in a heel. You will meet (dogs on the outside of both of you), PUT YOUR DOG IN A SIT FIRST! YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO THAT!, and you greet the person (shake hands, how ya doin') and walk away. You will also be tested in crowd, that may contain other dogs if they see fit to do that. You will have a supervised separation. They put my dog right next to a small dog with a teenager holding her while I had to go somewhere that she couldn't see me ( I watched the whole thing from behind a car and the teen kept pushing on her butt to get her to sit while she was looking for me the whole time). I was terribly not pleased with the way they conducted the test that day but we passed. I never followed through with joining TDI though.

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