Therapy Dogs
Cooper the therapy dog - Melbourne, Australia
Therapy dogs are dogs that are trained to have interactions with vulnerable populations with the goal of providing beneficial therapeutic outcomes to those individuals that they engage with. Most commonly they visit places including hospitals, aged care facilities and schools. Through interactions with dogs, many find it beneficial to their health and well-being. Professionals such as teachers, social workers, psychologists, counsellors, youth workers and other allied health professionals, find the introduction of a trained, sociable dog beneficial to the people they support. We run personalised training options for training your dog to be a therapy dog and can also help you better understand the field of therapy dogs.
What do we offer?
Our therapy dog training and assessment can be done for both those wanting to undertake voluntary visitations to settings such as aged care homes, hospitals and so on, as well as for professionals wishing to undertake Animal Assisted Therapy programs within their work. This may include everything from teachers, psychologists, OT’s, speech therapists, physiotherapists and much more. Programs including therapy dogs require greater program planning, education and training. We offer a theory component to our program to ensure that you’re ready to professionally include such a program within your workplace setting. Please reach out to ask us any questions about what is involved. The practical training to ready your dog to work with you can vary depending on your dog’s training history. We recommend that your dog has a minimum of 20-hours of professional training in preparation for their assessment. This 20 hours can be a combination of private and group training. Our group training classes are modelled on advanced pet dog training with more advanced group courses preparing for therapy or assistance dog work. Private training at your workplace can also be beneficial. If you’re located remotely, online training via Zoom is also an option.
Our assessment is modelled on the best practice standards recommended by that of Therapy Dogs International and also the public access test for assistance dogs (please note that therapy dog assessments do NOT entitled the dog to have public access following completion. It is not a public access test that is conducted for therapy dogs and therapy dogs are not entitled to public access).
All of our training for both therapy dogs and assistance dogs are undertaken using force free methods. Yes we use play, food and all of our training is about ensuring an ethical approach to dogs working with us and our dogs being treated as a colleague rather than a tool.
Our programs are continuing to grow and expand. We look forward to releasing more courses in the future but please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask any questions at all about how we can help you becoming accredited with your dog as a therapy or assistance dog in Victoria.
Click here to view our ‘are you and your dog suitable and ready to undertake therapy dog training and accreditation?’
Click here to download the veterinary assessment form for your dog
Click here to download our guide for prospective therapy dog handler and dog teams.
Therapy Dog Training and Accreditation:
Before booking into the course we recommend that you read our suitability checklist above and make sure you say ‘yes’ to each of the points listed. You may even wish to consider booking in a meet and greet session with me to meet your dog and go over what you hope to achieve with training. This session gives you the opportunity to see where your dog is at with their training and get an assessment done on your dog’s temperament and social behaviour if you’re unsure if you’re ready to commit to the course. These sessions are great if you have a pupster or a younger dog that’s under 12 months and you want some help in training them in readiness for this course.
What might we cover in a meet and greet?
You may want to know first whether your dog is likely to be suitable for this type of training and work, or whether you might benefit from attending some foundation training before starting training.
What we cover in this session is:
Does your dog genuinely like interacting with unfamiliar people? Do they get intrinsic enjoyment from socialising and touch with strangers?
Does your dog appear comfortable with touch? Is there are sensitivity to touch or handling?
Acceptance of odd behaviour, verbal outbursts, sudden noises, things that move fast, the presence of other dogs, people of all sizes and ages etc.
Presence of any aggression/over reactivity. We assess thresholds for using any forms of aggression around resources, touch and handling, and people and other animals.
Does your dog enjoy working? We want to see dogs that love working and engaging in training. Our training does NOT involve any forms of compulsion or force. We also insist that there is reinforcement used. This is not just in the form of praise or affection, it must include food and/or play (primary forms of positive reinforcement to an animal), praise is not enough. This is best practice standards in the practice of animal assisted interactions and assistance dogs.
Assessing the level of your dogs training. Your dog may be very advanced in training, or they may be very new to the game! We will assess where you are at and how much training you’re likely to need moving forward.
Training plan development. We may suggest your dog undertakes some basic training classes either with us or with another of our recommended training schools. This training will be to get some foundation training skills prior to doing the therapy dog training program.
*** Please note that completing an application form or doing a meet and greet session does not guarantee that you’ll be suitable to enrol in the therapy dog course. This assessment does not include the cost of the training program nor does the fee get taken off the cost of the rest of the program.
This session is $250 (goes for approximately 1.5hrs)
** Please note that booking into the course suggests that your dog is :
Sociable with new people and other dogs.
Displays no aggression to people or other dogs.
Is not a dangerous dog or been declared a dangerous dog.
Has achieved a basic level of training skills using positive reinforcement methods of training.
Your dog is aged under 10 years and has no health concerns which would make therapy dog work not suitable.
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Therapy Dog and Handler Team Certification Course
This three day course includes the theory modules (e.g. program planning, risk management, dog behaviour and training, how to include therapy dogs in your work and much more) as well as the practical training with your dog and their assessment.
This course is currently run in Altona North with views to run additional courses around Melbourne and regional areas in the future. Keep an eye on our booking page and socials for where and when a course may be running near you.
This intensive course is $1250
Included is a course manual and a bandana for your dog upon successful completion of the assessment on the final day of the course. You will be invited to join our closed Facebook group for working therapy dog teams which is moderated by myself at all times and am available to answer questions there as needed. You will also have access to discounted private training sessions at any time throughout your dog’s working career.
On completion of your training…..
A copy of the assessment is provided to you as well as a letter of assessment for your workplace. A certificate is also provided upon successful completion of your assessment which will include a date of recommended reassessment. Note that we suggest you undertake a yearly reassessment of your dog but will be required to undertake one a minimum of every two years to keep your certification valid.
You can request to have a vest with our logo to use on your dog or you may choose to make your own vest or bandana in your work colours for example. If you choose to have one of our vests, these can be purchased through us and are custom printed with your dog’s name on it by Blackdog Melbourne. You will receive a bandana as part of the course if you successfully complete the assessment.
This annual assessment is $200 (if completed in our service area - travel fees may apply if you want your assessment undertaken at your workplace or another area upon request) if undertaken privately. Group recertifications are $95 and are held throughout the year based on demand from teams being due.
If you wish to undertake all practical training and assessment on a one on one basis, this can be made available and an individual training plans and costings can be developed for you.
Please note that no training tools such as head halters or correction chains may be used either in training or at the assessment. Food is allowed in the assessment and is strongly encouraged (if suitable - obviously some settings may be more challenging than others and this can be discussed within your training). No hitting, smacking, yelling, force, compelling/forcing physically into position, no hands on body to push into positions, or any aversive interactions are allowable at all. Reading of stress signals and our dogs’ other forms of communication is also assessed.
If you wish to book in for the online workshops or group practical training courses, go to our bookings page. When booking into our therapy dog and handler certification program you understand that it does not guarantee that you will complete the training having passed the assessment process. Our suitability checklist is aimed at determining whether there are any concerns that may mean your dog may not be suitable for working in this role. The outcomes of doing this program may be that we deem your dog is not suitable for therapy dog work, that they may not be ready yet and we can work with you in training that will help prepare your dog to undertake the assessment again at a later date, or that you graduate as a successful team. If you’re unsure if this training may be suitable for you and your dog please reach out with any questions via email at info@lauramundydogtraining.com.au or call me on 0412732771
