Owen has been training to be a therapy dog since he was a young puppy. For starters, he was a well-socialized puppy from the time he was born at Berkshire Hills Australian Labradoodles in Haydenville, MA. At 8 weeks old, he went to his new home where his owner Bonnie started him right off with a puppy kindergarten class. Then, she entered him in more advanced classes which led to him passing his Canine Good Citizen Test.
Owen and Bonnie just completed their Bright Spot therapy dog training class two weeks ago. Since then, they have been practicing the skills and techniques they learned in this specialized class in preparation for their upcoming evaluation to earn Bright Spot certification.
Bonnie contacted me several days ago about having a private lesson to check on Owen’s readiness for his test. Since I hold my lessons at an actual nursing home, people and their dogs are able to test-drive their visiting skills before the Big Test Day. In doing so, both dog and handler develop confidence in knowing, firsthand, how they have done with real people, seeing and smelling the actual sights, sounds, and scents a therapy dog team encounters while visiting.
Owen and Bonnie demonstrated excellent skills and techniques as we spent one full hour visiting with folks in the large activity room, in the physical therapy room, some in their own rooms, and those seated around the nurses’ station. Now, they are ready to go – and have the confidence to do extremely well on the evaluation. They have put in the work 
involved: months, two years – actually – to get to this stage. I just received an email from Bonnie telling me their evaluation is scheduled for Friday. I can’t wait to have this wonderful new team part of Bright Spot Therapy Dogs.