Training to become a Therapy dog!

Link will start training to become a therapy dog! I just got the confirmation that we got a spot at a therapy dog course. I'm so happy! Ever since it became clear that Link has ED (see separate posts: Elbow Dysplasia in my Golden Retriever) I've been looking for an alternative "job" for Link. So when I saw the ad for the therapy dog course, I contacted them and got signed up the same day.
This will be the second time they have this course here in Tromsø, first time they had it was two years ago, and they told me Link is actually going to be the first Golden Retriever to train to become a therapy dog here in Tromsø. Let's hope he will pass all the tests so that he will become the first certified therapy dog of his breed! The dogs that passed the test two years ago are (as far as I know) three Labrador Retrievers and one Chinese crested.

I think Link will become a good therapy dog.

I have been thinking about getting a dog that can work as a therapy dog before, but I have sort of forgotten about it lately. I had however bought a book about therapy dog work a few years back, and now I have finally started reading it. It's called "Therapy dogs: Training your dog to reach others", written by Kathy Diamond Davis. So far it's a very good read.

"Therapy dogs: Training your dog to reach others", written by Kathy Diamond Davis

So what is a Therapy dog?
Well, let's start with what it isn't. It is not a service dog. It does not have the same privileges as a service dog (being allowed in restaurants, in the cabin on planes etc.).  A service dog is a dog that helps a disabled person, it belongs to that person and has been specifically trained to assist that person with things him or her cannot do him-/herself.
A therapy dog has a handler that is not him-/herself in need of help, but they work as a team to help others. Therapy dogs can be used to help war veterans or trauma victims to process what they have been through, they can be used to help children practice reading or they can visit old or sick people living in institutions, among many other things. In short: A therapy dog is a dog that has been trained to calmly interact with people of different ages and with different health or mental issues. It always has it's handler with it during these interactions, and it is the handlers job to keep both the person interacting with the dog, and the dog, safe from harm. The handler must be good at reading the dogs body language, so that the handler makes sure the dog is having a good time. A happy dog is a good therapy dog.

So what does it take to become a therapy dog?
Well first off all, the dog must be trained to be calm and offer appropriate behaviors around people. (I will come back to exactly what that implies when I've learned this myself...) Then it has to pass a mental test, to make sure that the dog will never react aggressively towards people and will not be easily frightened by loud noises or unfamiliar situations. The dog has to be able to tolerate strangers handling it, and even to some extent handling things that can be mildly painful without reacting aggressively. In real situations the handler should be able to see that something might be uncomfortable for the dog and get the dog out of the situation. But children or people with certain medical conditions might by accident do something to the dog that the dog finds painful, and in that situation a therapy dog must react calmly and never bite or growl.

I'm so looking forward to attending the course and to see if Link passes all the testes. I can wait to start!