Picking a puppy for therapy work

[Snowden]

Any advice on how to pick a puppy for therapy work? What kind of temperment testing do you do? Any great reads?

I am finally ready to add a newf to the family after Van's passing in September. I want to give others the Joy Van brought me so I want to pick the perfict pup for therapy work (note this pup will prob be therapy for me as well

There is not time frame just whenever the right pup comes my way. I just want to be ready.


Thanks - Lindsey

 

[R Taft]

We have used our dogs for Therapy........Mostly they were "made" by doing a lot of early socialization.
But we have always been interested in this http://www.workingdogs.com/testing_volhard.htm

http://www.rr.sk/tusani/m/pat.pdf

Katy was picked using this with the help of the breeder and all her years of knowledge.
And we take Katy and the other dogs everywhere........She has been to two puppy shools ( eight weeks), she goes to obedience with all the higher level dogs to meet and greet.
And we use all the people we can possibly come in contact with. Children, old people and our Riding for the Disabled clients and family, where she has been adored by many already.
We have been diligent with her training and do not allow any bite, but we allow licks at present, because she is a real happy pup. Katy is very social and happy.
She loves people and is very outgoing and confident. But when I say she goes everywhere, I mean everywhere...........She comes into any shop that allows dogs and I allow lots of people contact. No stranger danger here. We also go for very short walks in busy shopping areas........Again lots of stops and petting. It makes for slow trips .
Tessa and Annabelle have to be there too, of course. I wish you luck in your venture.
As a aside..........Annabelle was an adult who was definitely not suitable for therapy work, but since her re-training, she has become a very sweet and calm dog. She has made a very special place and friend with two autistic boys, who she initially met at Riding for the Disabled, just because she came along with us. And now she, Tessa and Katy too visits the Special School, because they have formed such a great friendship with her. They talk to her, which is very unusual and they hug her. This made their Mom cry. They are now getting their own specially trained Therapy Dog, Golden retriever called Bob, who will live with Them at home forever, trained by a Professional dog trainer............We have already met this dog, as our visits will continue and he has to be friends and is with our dogs.

 

[Bojie]

I had no part in choosing my boy, my breeder did it for me based on what I told her I was interested in using him for, but I really feel strongly that the reason he is so great at therapy work is because of early early early socialization. He was in my back pocket from the day I picked him up from my breeders home, and has been ever since. I also took him into the city, with lots of scary sounds very early on, to get him accustomed to everything. I'm sure with your loving heart, and just the fact that this is something you want to be involved in with your new pup, it will come naturally.

 

[pabusinesswoman]

As stated above.. the breeders know the personality of the pups and normally do well at choosing a good match.

We, like Ronnie and Meg did a ton of socialization. Any where the newf could go.. the newf went along with the kids. The more you expose them to, the better they seem to do.

As per reading, you can do a search for therapy dog groups. There are several different groups that provide the service. Many have information online. However they each seem to have different approaches and a little different set ups. You need to find what is the right one for you and your application. See what the local chapters are doing, especially if your hoping to do your work in a group setting. We go individually, so it is not as big of an issue with us.

Some groups of the groups (I am not promoting any particular one)
Therapy Dogs International- http://www.tdi-dog.org
Delta Society- http://www.deltasociety.org
American Red Cross- local chapter here is www.sqvalleyredcross.org (I am sure they could reference you to your region)

You can get copies of the requirements the dog has to pass to be certified from the organizations. In additions, you can get information on the insurance coverages they carry. Many, if not all require the dog to be a year before going on an "official" visit.

Many of your local obedience clubs also work with groups and do testing. I received most of my information by going out, making calls, and asking questions.

I hope this helps

 

[Lori]

Lindsey, sorry no advice on how to pick a puppy for therapy work. Just wanted to say how happy I am for you that you are planning on getting another newf! Van would be very happy.

 

[Snowden]

Thank you all.
I work from home so any pup I get is going to be with me all day. She/he will get use to kids in a hurry b/c we have 2 furless kids, 2 corgi pups, and a mainecoon cat. We take the corgi pups everywhere so the socailization part will be there. Van was alway brought everywhere we went, but in the end he was so off...

I am going to be contacting my breeder soon to let her know I'm ready.
She does temperment test as well, but I want to be there to help pick. I'll talk to her and see if there is one pup that stands out. I'm in no rush.

Lori - Thank you! I will be naming my new pup Willow (boy or girl) for Van. The Willow tree symbolizes - healing - the power to grieve, overcome and come out better on the other side

Hugs- Lindsey

 

[R Taft]

Thank you all.
I work from home so any pup I get is going to be with me all day. She/he will get use to kids in a hurry b/c we have 2 furless kids, 2 corgi pups, and a mainecoon cat. We take the corgi pups everywhere so the socailization part will be there. Van was alway brought everywhere we went, but in the end he was so off...

I am going to be contacting my breeder soon to let her know I'm ready.
She does temperment test as well, but I want to be there to help pick. I'll talk to her and see if there is one pup that stands out. I'm in no rush.

Lori - Thank you! I will be naming my new pup Willow (boy or girl) for Van. The Willow tree symbolizes - healing - the power to grieve, overcome and come out better on the other side

Hugs- Lindsey

One of our trainers who trains dogs for therapy and sniffer dogs, did tell me to make sure that the dogs meet a lot of non-family people and kids. Dogs can be very friendly and easy with their own family and not so with outsiders. Even become a bit protective of your kids. That said, he did say that with newfies, you probably did not have those issues so much. But he did make it quite a significant statement.
Willow is a beautiful name, especially if you think of the symbolism, very special .
And I agree with you, I always follow my breeders lead......They have so much more experience

 

[Snowden]

One of our trainers who trains dogs for therapy and sniffer dogs, did tell me to make sure that the dogs meet a lot of non-family people and kids. Dogs can be very friendly and easy with their own family and not so with outsiders. Even become a bit protective of your kids. That said, he did say that with newfies, you probably did not have those issues so much. But he did make it quite a significant statement.
Willow is a beautiful name, especially if you think of the symbolism, very special .
And I agree with you, I always follow my breeders lead......They have so much more experience

Thank you! I'm going to speak with my breeder tomorrow about this. I'm hoping that by using temperment testiing we will be able to idenitfy 1 or 2 pups that maybe good for therapy work Her pups do not leave untill they are 11-12 weeks old. All of her dogs have great temperments and she socailizes all the pups, so I know in her hands these pups will have the extra socailization needed