We recommend reading the article “Dog Assisted Therapy: Is Your Dog a Good Fit?” to help determine whether your dog is likely to enjoy being a therapy dog. Our process is unique to Caring Canines.  We do not require your dog to be certified by a third-party organization since we evaluate all dog and handler teams using our own system, which has been developed based on almost two decades of experience.

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When your application is accepted, you will be invited to come and observe one of our group visits without your dog. This observation visit serves as an orientation to our program and offers a preview of what a typical visit might be like for you and your dog.  You will get a good sense of whether your dog has the temperament and skills needed for work as a Caring Canines therapy dog.  Additionally, we often have an evaluation for another applicant dog/handler team scheduled at the end of the visit, and we encourage you to stay to watch it.

 

If, after the orientation, you feel our program is a good match for you and your dog, we will schedule you to come for an evaluation as a dog/handler team. After a successful evaluation, you will participate in our mentoring program.  You will select three supervised training visits where you will have a Caring Canines mentor to assist you.  Upon successful completion of the three mentored visits, you will be able to select your visits from the weekly schedule that is sent each Monday by e-mail. The schedule will list the visits to the various facilities for the next several weeks, and you may request to be scheduled based on your selection(s) from this list. 

 

After ten visits, you will be able to select from additional visiting opportunities such as room-to-room visits in local hospitals, schools, and facilities for adults and children with special needs.  More details about our visits can be found on our FAQ page.

 

If after reading all of the above, you feel that Caring Canines is a good match for you and your dog, please submit an online application.