Does anyone know about the training of companion dogs?

Question

I would like for my Shih-Tzu to be trained or authorized/certified as a companion dog. I am in NJ-Does anyone know how I go about getting certified? I am planning on calling my local hospital and vet to see if they have an answer, but I thought I would also try here. Thanks, any information would be helpful.

I call them companion dogs. They visit those in hospitals/hospices/nursing homes to bring joy, companionship and attention to those that are sick or old.

OK-it's a Therapy Dog I am asking about. Thanks Miriam.

Answer 1

Companion Dog is a title bestowed by the AKC when a dog qualifies three times in the Novice class at an obedience trial.

The rules are here:
https://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf

Maybe you are thinking of "Therapy Dog"
Here's some information on that
http://www.tdi-dog.org/

Answer 2

I have a Therapy dog. Go to www.tdi.org there you will see what is required of the handler as well as the dog. Then contact the different medical facilities in your area and see if they have a therapy dog program. If they do see if they will give you the contact info for the coordinator, or leave your contact info for them to call you back. The test is similar to the Canine Good Citizens test, some dogs can pass that without any formal training. My dog passed the TDI test with flying colors, she never went to a "training facility" I taught her the basics that she needs to live in my house, (sit, stay, down, come) and we also train in agility, but the agility training doesn't really help with the therapy. The patients love her and she loves them.
Good Luck and enjoy

Answer 3

You are in the right spot. If you are close to St Hubert's (Madison).....that is the BEST place to train a pet dog, to prepare for the testing.. They do not test for TDI there. If I recall they do Delta Dogs.

Many of the dog clubs have an open day for TDI dog testing. When I lived in NJ, I tested with the club in Ramapo. I might be able to help you out a little bit more if I knew what town you are in.

You can always call or email TDI, and they will send you a list of testers you can contact.

Answer 4

A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/gsrNo

If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.

It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.

Answer 5

Companion dog....doing what for the person other than being it's companion....??

There are legally recognized services dogs for physically, mentally challenged people. Police dogs are also categorized as service dogs.

There are therapy assist dogs but they do not qualify as service dogs.

Answer 6

Do you mean a therapy dog? The first thing you need to do there I think is for your dog to earn it's good citizen certificate. This requires some basic obedience to do this. If you go to the AKC website, there is a page that details this and how to go about getting certified.

Answer 7

Others answered good for you. I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas and thank you for wanting to do something good for others! you are awesome!

Answer 8

As well as TDI, there is Delta Society.

http://www.deltasociety.org/