Characteristics of A Therapy pet

  • Sociable and friendly
  • Well mannered in interactions with others
  • Doesn't jump on people
  • Is controllable, reliable, and predictable
  • Can cope with stressful situations
  • Comfortable being in a crowd
  • Comfortable being touched, at times awkwardly
  • Behaviors are re-directable
  • Not aggressive towards animals or people
  • Able to ignore food or toys with commands

Obedience Skills Needed

You and your pet must have a good foundation of obedience skills.  For example, a dog should be able to sit, lay down, stay, come, and leave it on command.  He or she should also be able to walk by your side with a loose leash.  

The handler must have control of his or her pet while on a visit.  This means you and your pet need to work as a team, and you need to be able to anticipate your pet's responses ahead of time so you are able to redirect if needed.

Other Membership Requirements

  • Therapy teams will pay a one time testing fee of $30 to take the Therapy Test
  • Therapy tams will pay a YEARLY fee of $50 to be a member of the organization (Due on March 1st of each year)
  • Each year (March 1st to end of February) each member will participate in at least 6 organization events such as meetings, fundraisers, community out reach events, etc.  Here is a general list of possible events.
  • At the time of testing, each team will be required to fill out a membership packet and submit a background check.

Testing Requirements

In order to become a therapy pet team, you and your pet must pass the following tests in order.
1. American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen 
This tests your pet's basic obedience skills and readiness to be a therapy pet.  While you are able to take this test via other avenues, we do offer this test  several times a year. 
2. Alliance of Therapy Pets Team Test
During this test, you and your pet are evaluated by our certified evaluator. You will work through a variety of scenarios to see how your pet handles the situations. This may include items such as visiting with a disabled person, encountering large crowds or loud noises, lying down patiently, and refraining from eating food items. We offer this test several times a year.