What Is a Therapy Dog?

Therapy dogs are pet dogs who go with their owners to volunteer in settings such as schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.

There are organizations in the country that TEST and INSURE dogs for visiting locations where dogs have shown to be a comfort or a distraction from a challenging emotional, mental or physical challenging event or circumstance. From working with a child who is learning to read to visiting a senior in assisted living, therapy dogs and their owners work together as a team to improve the lives of other people.

Therapy dogs are neither qualified as service or emotional support dogs. Service dogs are dogs who are trained to perform specific tasks to assist a person who has a disability and cannot perform that task themselves. An example of a service dog is a dog who guides an owner who is blind, or a dog who assists someone who has a physical disability. Service dogs stay with their person day and night and have special access privileges in public places. They are permitted ANYWHERE a person is allowed. Therapy dogs and Emotional Support dogs do not have the same public access as service dogs.

It is unethical to attempt to pass off a therapy dog as a service dog for purposes such as flying on a plane or being admitted to a restaurant, movie theater, shopping mall or anywhere else people go UNLESS INVITED by them specifically to enter the premises.

Contact us at DAteamevaluator@gmail.com so we can answer your questions and/or discuss your role and attendance at upcoming sessions or events. 

Please include your phone number so we may contact you.
We hope to see you at DogAbility Center in the near future!