Our Aspiring Therapy Dog Program is a six week course designed to help you train your dog to do therapy work.
Cass County MI Deputy Timothy Gondeck and his Canine Advocate/Therapy Dog “Baxter” completed our first Aspiring Therapy Dog Program and are doing great things in their community.
The first class is for handlers only. It covers the legal aspects of therapy work, and you will learn the difference between Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs and Emotional Support Dogs. First class will be one and half hours long. Each additional class will be one hour long.
The second through sixth classes are with the handler/dog teams. You will work at our training facility and in public with your dog and the other attendees’ dogs. These classes build on each other so you will need to work with your dog in between classes in order to advance through the program.
All dogs that are enrolled are required to be under control at all times. They must have basic obedience (sit, down, heel, stay) already and be good with people and dogs. If at any time the instructor feels you or your dog aren’t ready for the Aspiring Therapy Dog Class, the instructor will give you some guidance and what your next steps should be.