In some cases, people need a lot more attention, love and support than normal. This happens especially when they are sick. But, the unfortunate truth is that people generally don't have the patience or time to help these sick people. This is where dog therapy training comes in play, teaching dogs how to help these people and keep them company, giving them the emotional support that they need.
Besides normal dog training, these dogs also need specialized teaching. They will learn how to behave around people that are going through therapy and how to provide them with comfort. If they need to provide this help to ill people, these dogs need much more than just a basic training. They will need to be able to do a number of things while being good companions.
Older people and kids are usually those that get therapy dogs to help them deal with their stay in hospitals. Both the dog and the handler will help the patient go through this hard period, by offering him activities and attention that will help.
Hospitals aren't the only places that can benefit from using therapy dogs on their patients. They can also provide great value in retirement homes, schools, nursing homes or mental institutions.
The training that is done on dogs that will be used for therapy derives from other types of trainings and modified, to make them fit the situations that can happen in a hospital. They will be taught to be nice with strangers and to enjoy sitting in their presence. In most cases, these therapy dogs will learn performances and tricks that most people will enjoy seeing.
You could use almost any breed to make a therapy dog, but in most cases breeds with higher temperance are chosen, due to their constant work with people they don't know.
There isn't one single method of training these dogs, but usually they will need to be certified before being allowed to get near patients to help them. Training and certification can be received from animal shelters or therapy dog training classes. Once the certification is received, you can start training the dog for therapy.
With a therapy training, the dog will learn to ignore noise, people that don't need therapy or any kind of hospital equipment. They also learn to do a few basic things or to help the patients do it. They are not service dogs though, so they can't do the same things.
These dogs are trained to help people by visiting them and giving them some company and joy. They are not trained to stay with them and help them with their tasks, so there is a major difference between therapy and service dogs.
People often need some therapy to recover, which can prove boring and repetitive. A therapy dog can provide some excitement in their daily routine that will improve their situation. It's been known to make people less lonely or depressed as well. It can distract them from darker thoughts that they might have.
A therapy dog can also make patients be more responsive, getting them out of their routine, making them less passive. Try to put yourself in the place of a bored patient, that suffers from pain, and imagine what a joy would a dog bring you, if he came to interrupt your boring routine.
There isn't a huge demand for therapy dog training, but it's been used for quite some time now in the treatment of patients.
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