Essex Therapy Dogs CIC

A couple of questions I often get asked when arranging an assessment is ‘what makes a good therapy dog’ and ‘what training do you do’?

The simple answer is that its down to the dog’s temperament and it’s the owner’s responsibility to ensure the dog has basic training completed. So our dogs can come in all shapes and sizes, and can be mixed breeds, cross breeds and pure breeds.

We like owners to be able to walk their dog on a loose lead.

Dogs that can also stay and sit on command.

Dogs that won’t react (too strongly) to loud unexpected noises

Dogs that don’t mind (too much) if their tail is being pulled. Children and some adults have a habit of pulling a dogs tail to get its attention.  Not ideal, but it does sometimes happen.

A dog can take a treat gently from a person’s hand.

Finally, a dog that doesn’t jump up. Small dogs (under 10kg) will sometimes put their legs on yours as they are so little for attention. This is fine providing there isn’t a risk to scratching fragile skin or knocking someone over.

There are many puppy and dog classes that are available that will train your dog to Bronze Citizen Award Level. More details can be found by following this link:-

https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/3512/gcdsbronze.pdf

There are some dogs that can do tricks e.g. paw, spin in a circle, etc.  Clients love seeing a well-behaved dog so if your dog can also do this, great!  Don’t worry if not though.

This isn’t usually a problem as dogs will be volunteering on their own with their owner. However, some care homes do have a resident cat, so we would need to know if your dog doesn’t like cats so we can ensure it’s placed somewhere suitable.

We take dogs from the age of one years old, and generally think about retiring them at 10 years old, depending on the breed of dog as they all have different life spans.

Some will be able to continue for longer, some others not, so ages are for guidance only.

We like to ensure dogs are fully out of their puppy stage where they can be nippy and jump up, so we will consider a dog from one years old.

However, some dogs take longer to mature, so 3 years old might be more appropriate. This is why we have the assessment process to ensure it’s completed on a dog by dog basis.

The short answer is yes, but we would like you to have owned them for at least 6 months to ensure any behaviour issues have time to surface.

Rescues actually make very loving pets so this is just a precaution in case a dog hasn’t been properly socialised with people / children

Ideally, we would like a member of this group to be able to commit to one hours dog therapy each week.

Some members will do more. Some less. You will find what works for you and your dog as you become more familiar with visiting places.

We strongly urge members not to extend visiting any more than an hour as it’s extremely tiring for the dog. I know, being stroked and pampered is our idea of heaven but it’s actually quite a lot for a dog to subject itself to, especially when its in a strange environment and with people the dog doesn’t know.

Again, this is for guidance only.

All dogs should be clean and tidy before any visit. Regular grooming is also beneficial to the dogs health and well-being. Also each breed will have its own grooming needs, so we just ask they are presentable. Professional grooming isn’t required. Just a bath or a good brush will suffice.