Tag Archives: Therapy Dog

What Are The Requirements To Have A Service Dog In Virginia?

We get asked service dog questions a lot at our facility in Northern Virginia.

ADA (American Disabilities Act) is the governing body for these regulations.

The American Disabilities Act has certain regulations in place regarding the definition and purpose of service dogs. This has been revised several times, with the latest revision being on March 15, 2011. There were several additional provisions added to the latest revisions regarding service dogs.

Service dogs are specially trained to assist people with special needs in certain activities of daily living, such as helping them to walk with stability, helping retrieve items (if they are in a wheelchair), helping them know if someone is coming from behind (if there is hearing loss), preventing a child from wandering away from safety (if autistic), etc.

According to the American Disabilities Act, both local and state government agencies, non-profit organizations, retail merchants, restaurants, and other businesses, have to make “reasonable modifications” in order to accommodate the needs of disabled people. Even places that have a policy of “no pets” have to make room for service dogs in their premises.

It is to be noted that the ADA defines only dogs as service animals. According to the ADA, the dog must be trained to perform tasks that are specifically related to the disability faced by the person. This involves training the dog to take certain actions that are very specific to the disability, such as alerting a diabetic person that his blood sugar levels are low. Other tasks could include reminding the person to take medications on time, detect the onset of a seizure in an epileptic person and keep him/her safe during the seizure until medical aid arrives. Therapy dogs, or dogs that provide only emotional support and comfort, are not covered in the ambit of service dogs, under the ADA regulations. However, dogs that are trained to offer specific psychiatric support, such as sensing the onset of an anxiety attack and taking action to warn, avoid, or prevent the attack, are covered as service dogs, under ADA regulations.

The ADA also does not “require” professional training for service dogs; however, it is highly preferred. People with disabilities can train the dogs themselves. ADA regulations state that a dog can only be considered a service dog after it is fully trained. A service dog can only be taken to public places after it is fully trained. This means that dogs that are undergoing training should not be taken to public places under ADA regulations. They are not required to wear any special vest, harness, or ID tag. The care of the dog is the responsibility of the handler, and this includes feeding, grooming, exercising, as well as veterinary care.

ADA regulations also state that hotels must not reserve “pet friendly” rooms to people with service animals who want to book an accommodation in the hotel. They must be given rooms that are accessible to other general guests. Hotels must also not charge a separate cleaning fee for these rooms to remove pet hair, etc. Essentially, a service dog must be given access to any place that a person is.

If you are looking at getting your dog trained and certified to be a service dog, contact Off Leash K9 Training today!

www.offleashk9training.com or 888-413-0896 or http://www.servicedogtrainingvirginia.com/

Nick White
Founder
Off Leash K9 Training

Therapy Dog Training and Certification in Northern Virginia

April 17, 2014Dog Medical, Dog Owners Blog, Dog Training Generalnorthern virginia, Therapy DogOff Leash K9 Training

We work with therapy dogs at our facility in Northern Virginia on a daily basis. Certain dogs have nice characteristics and certain behaviors that creates the perfect well-balanced friendly dog for individuals. In fact, because of this specific disposition, trainers can easily measure or choose the most appropriate coaching system/method. We can decide which profession the dog would be best suited for, such as medical care dogs, search and rescue (SAR) dogs, detection dogs, or therapy dogs.

Just like with people, there is almost a certification procedure for every profession.

How to Certify a Therapy Dog.

There are many different organizations across the country that do testing, however they remarkably have the similar common practice procedures including:

1. Before anyone will register the pet into a therapy dog program, the primary factor to try and do is to get the registration paperwork which is generally found on the specific organization’s web site. Some of the most well known organizations are: Angel on a Leash, Pet Partners, American Kennel Club (AKC), Delta Society, and Therapy Dog International.

2. If the dog meets the prerequisites, the organization can put the pet in special training or coaching programs; some organizations even provide on-line coaching for this. Alternative certification organizations don’t provide therapy dog training in the least, however they’re going to take your dog to the AKC Canine Good Citizen level, which is the first step to becoming a Therapy Dog in Northern Virginia.

3. The dog owner should take the dog for his/her normal medical examination. The dog should be fully healthy to continue the certification procedure. In most cases, these major corporations force the dog to show regular proof of DHLPP, rabies, and bortatella vaccinations.

4. Subsequent vital step in virtually any therapy dog registration procedure is dog analysis. The dog’s behaviors are evaluated by a representative of the organization. The analysis is fairly straightforward, the dog should have the basic manners, for examples sit, come, stay, down, and so on. A therapy dog should stay calm among strangers and alternative dogs; any indication of aggression isn’t allowed.

5. Fill out the registration paperwork; before submitting it to the organization, enclose the health and analysis certifications. It’s vital to incorporate an image of the dog for identification purpose. Please keep in mind that certification for Therapy dogs is not free; the owner should pay the registration fee once submitting the work (generally around $45.00/year).

6. Finally, you just have to wait for approval; once the certificate is issued, the pet is formally a therapy dog. An authorized therapy dog is a well-trained animal which will offer comfort to aged people, kids with learning disabilities, hospitalized individuals, and more. The animal are allowed to go to varied public facilities like libraries, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and essentially each establishment wherever the help from a therapy dog is wanted.

If you are wanting a dog to do therapy work, I would recommend our Therapy Dog Development Course which gives you and your dog all of the tools and skills needed to pass the TDI Certification!

Additionally, I would highly recommend reading my blog on “Picking the Perfect Dog” to ensure you get the “right” type of dog for this work.

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Therapy Dog Training in Northern Virginia: Northern Virginia Therapy Dog Training

October 28, 2013Dog Training Generalnorthern virginia, Therapy DogOff Leash K9 Training

We can give your dog the tools to pass therapy dog testing at our facility in Northern Virginia. On a monthly basis, our trained dogs pass their therapy dog testing with ease.

If you look at our YouTube Channel, you will see all of our trained actually “exceed” the standards laid out for therapy dogs.

If your dog completes our Therapy Dog Development Course, they will have all of the tools needed to become a certified therapy dog. Upon completing our course, we can test you for your AKC Canine Good Citizen, once your dog receives this, he can take his Therapy Dog Certification Test, which we can arrange. If you look at the link above, you will see all parts of the test listed.

As you will see, not only does our training program meet these testing standards, but they greatly exceed them, as well.

The test ranges from obedience, confidence, and noise desensitization.

At Off Leash K9 Training, LLC we have many of our graduates leave our training program, and successfully pass all therapy dog testing immediately after completing our course.

If you are looking at having your dog become a therapy dog in the Northern Virginia area, contact us and we can help you and your dog achieve all of your training goals (and beyond).