therapy dog. breeds. help?
hello, i have always wanted a therapy dog. i have two dogs now but one is a bit fearful of strangers after an accident she had when she was younger and got hit by a car. and the other one is getting older and has a temperament toward younger kids with high voices and other dogs. so i am looking into getting a younger dog (under a yr is tht good?) or a little puppy. i want to know which dog breeds are good for therapy dogs. and i know that it depends how they are raised and trained. but also how the breed is whether they are a family dog or not. so i would like to know which breeds are good with people, and get along with other animals, and that i will be able to train to be a good therapy dog. (i am okay with a little challenge in training, but nothing out of control.) and also what are the requirement for a therapy dog as far as getting along with ppl? and other dogs? and anything else?? thanks in advance!
i would like a medium – large+ breed. and i definately do plan on looking up more, this means alot to me. i just want sort of ideas to look into. thank you all.
rotten rotts… i know that they need to get along people and dogs, i put that in as example of my requirements..i was asking what else besides that.. i have trained my dogs and outer family dogs. i know how to train a dog with good ol obedience
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Filed under: Dog Training
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Just about any breed of dog can be used for therapy. What you listed was good with people, good with families, and medium-high ease of training. Any breed that is socialized as a puppy will be good with people and animals. So basically, you’re looking for a dog that’s easy to train. Poodles, Great Danes, Belgian Malinois, Collies, Dachshunds, and Papillons are all dogs that are said to be easy to train, and so are a bunch of dogs sitting in the pound.
It would be a lot easier to find one that’s good for you if you could list your preferable size, exercise requirements, grooming needs, and if you want a hypoallergenic dog or not. These all take into account of a dog that’s good for you; you couldn’t have the one you want without them. I also hope you know that you need to do more research into a breed once we suggest it. Only you know what your limits are.
I suggest taking this test on Animal Planet’s website. It helps select a breed for you:
http://animal.discovery.com/breedselector/dogselector.do
Golden retrievers make great therapy dogs
Actually, since you have made excuses for the two dogs you have as to why their horrible behavior should be acceptable- I do not see you being able to successfully take on another dog.
My Pomeranian who is a therapy dog came from a VERIFIED abusive home (she was confiscated by Animal Control for Abuse/neglect). She was skittish and would not let anyone but me near her when I got her.
So I could have made excuses and said poor dog her entire life or I do what I did which was treat her like a normal dog and expect her to come around-which she did.
There is no reason that you can not work with the dogs you have, that is if you stop making excuses for them.
To find out the requirements of a therapy dog visit Therapy Dogs International.
The first step towards certification is an AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate.
Great Danes are great
Actually, almost all dog breeds(saying almost as there are a group of dog breeds I’m a bit wary too and need more information on) can make great therapy dogs if they’re trained well.
I agree with Uhave2be if you are waiting for the perfect dog then you aren’t ever going to see it.
My therapy dogs are Rottweilers. I have worked with everything from Chihuahuas to Newfoundlands
All training is challenging and can be very out of control.If you can’t handle just plain ol obedience training then you sure don’t have what it takes for therapy work.
Oh course the requirements are that the dog must get along with ppl and other dogs, I can’t even understand why you would need to ask that question.