What are good therapy dog breeds?

Question

I am going to get a dog to visit hospitals (children and adults) and was wondering what breeds are good.
*No Small Dogs Please* (I love small dogs, but my dad wants a big one)

<3 Kerry

Answer 1

Any breed can make a good therapy dog what is most important is the temperament of the dog. The dog should like all people old and young, it also can not be afraid of objects such as wheelchairs, walkers or canes. The dog should be confident, calm and not easily excitable or uncontrollable. The dog should know basic commands and should ALWAYS be willing to listen to you and in your control under all circumstances.

Answer 2

23 hours after the question was asked, my answer is: Any breed can produce a good therapy dog. No breed is guaranteed to produce one. In other words, just because you get breed "X" doesn't mean it will automatically turn out to be a therapy dog. If you're going to get a puppy and raise it, start with a puppy from parents with good temperaments. In other words, get a puppy from a reputable breeder who will allow you to meet both parents. That's the only predictor you will have with a puppy. Some dogs will have a promising temperament and be raised wrong. Some dogs will be born with an inappropriate temperament for therapy work, and even if raised by the most talented most caring person still can't overcome what they were born with. It's nature AND nurture, not either or. You must start with a dog with a sound mind, and then raise it correctly. With a puppy, that means hedging your bets on the genetics part of things by assuming two temperamentally sound parents are more likely to produce temperamentally sound puppies. With an adult, you know what you have. Whatever the dog was born with has been developed. He's done. You can do some tweaking here and there, but once an animal is mature you can't change his core temperament. It doesn't matter whether you know the parents because baring some medical condition to throw his brain chemistry off or a traumatic event, he is what he is and what he will remain. Temperament is far more important than breed.

Answer 3

Any well trained, well socialized dog can be a good therapy dog. I've seen Great Danes, Keeshonds, Collies, Bulldogs, Dobermans, and even Pit Bulls do therapy work. I also know of many Alaskan Malamutes, Siberian huskies, and Samoyeds who are therapy dogs.

I guess the breeds people automatically think of are the Retrievers, and maybe German Shepherds. But even the English Springer Spaniel who won this year's Westminster Kennel Club dog show was a certified therapy dog.

Answer 4

Golden Reteiviers, Labs, my friend has an Irish wolf hound that visits the nursing homes with me. I take my goldens. Really any large breed can become a therapy dog if it is trained correctly.

Answer 5

Golden retrievers are super sweet, usually. Springer Spaniels are, too, and very smart. I have found that, if you have a large home in a rural area, Great Danes are the nicest with strangers and love attention without getting overly excited, but you have to want A LOT of dog and they are a lot of work since their bods grow faster than their brains, and HUGE puppies make HUGE messes.

Answer 6

almost any breed is a good breed, go to a shelter and find a hearty dog with a nice temperment and then take him or her to a therapy training class. I just saw that on animal planet. all sorts of breeds were being trained from poodles to shepherd mixes to mutts. save a dog. and save people too.

Answer 7

Virtually any breed/mix can be good therapy dogs. A good therapy dog MUST be properly socialized, well trained/mannered and preferably have gotten their AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) award and have been tested and certified by an organization such as Therapy Dog International (TDI)

Answer 8

German Shepord make good therapy dogs but really it more4 or less depends on their temper get a laid back (not hyper) dog and put it through the training any dog would be good and could do it

Answer 9

Any breed can be a good therapy dog! You might not think so but Chow Chows, Pit Bulls, and many many MANY (did i say MANY???) dog breeds are gr8 therapy dogs!!

Answer 10

I am getting ready to start taking my 4 year old newfoundland female to my local hospital. She is very calm and has a wonderful temperment. If you go with a newfie though, make sure its very well groomed before you go.