06/20/2023
We have ONE spot left in our upcoming workshop, please see all the details below. If you are interested in participating, please send a message to our page with your email address and we will email you the brochure.
Baptist Hospital in Beaumont, TX will be hosting a workshop for our organization for prospective therapy dog handlers on July 15. We will hold evaluations on July 29. The workshop is required for all new handlers. We have approximately 3 openings left in this workshop and evaluation.
If you are interested in becoming a therapy dog team with our organization, please send us a message and include your email address and we will send you the registration form. Please note a therapy dog is not a service/assistance or emotional support dog. Therapy dogs volunteer with you in the community, they do not have access to public places such as restaurants/stores, they cannot travel with you in the cabin of an airplane. Therapy animals bring smiles to people in nursing homes, hospitals, and other events in the community.
To become a therapy dog team, your dog must know basic obedience and pass our therapy dog evaluation. Your dog must be good around other dogs and people. The dog may NOT be a service, assistance, or emotional support dog, this is per our national organization. The dog must not have been trained to do bite work of any kind.
Your dog must be at least 2 years old and under 10 years of age to qualify for the evaluation. Additionally, if you have rescued/adopted your dog, it must have lived with you for a minimum of six months before you may evaluate as a team.
We will NOT evaluate dogs to work with you in your classrooms, practices, or other facilities. Our national organization only covers work you are doing when volunteering and only covers a maximum of 2 hours of visiting per day. Our insurance only covers you while volunteering with your animal and not while you are at work.
For this workshop, we are ONLY evaluating teams who are willing to volunteer at least 1-2 times per month at Baptist Hospital. You of course may volunteer in other facilities. However, to become a volunteer at Baptist Hospital you are required to complete a background check, volunteer orientations, and show proof yearly of a flu shot and a recent TB test (your TB test, flu shot are all covered if you do not have them). New volunteers will also complete shadowing at the hospital as well as complete annual volunteer education.
To test as a therapy dog, you must attend the workshop, your dog must be up to date on vaccines and will require a health check and vet forms completed by the time of your evaluation. You will also be required to complete an application and bring it to your evaluation. Your evaluation will consist of basic obedience and a simulated visit, both you and your dog will be evaluated. Your dog must be friendly and enthusiastic about meeting new people, be predictable and reliable and inspire confidence in the person they are interacting with. Your dog should be people oriented, enjoy being hugged, be comfortable around loud noises, be relaxed, not growl, jump up on people or bark. Dogs should be living inside with you and your family, outside only dogs do not typically make good therapy animals.
There is a cost for the workshop, evaluation and for your two year certification, but the benefits of sharing your animal with others do far outweigh the costs.
We ONLY have a limited number of spots available for this workshop. If you are interested in participating and you agree to the terms listed here, please send us a message with your name, dog’s name and age, and your email address and we will send you the form. You are not considered registered for the workshop until payment is received. The deadline to submit payment is July 7. Registration is on a first come, first serve basis. You will receive confirmation from the hospital once your form and payment have been received. You will NOT bring your dog with you to the workshop.
