Our Bright Spot Therapy Dog Training course offered at Animal Alliances in Northampton trained seven new teams this month in the skills and techniques they need to know to visit effectively in health care and educational environments.
The next step for the course graduates is their evaluation. Each team meets individually with one of our Bright Spot Therapy Dog evaluators who puts the team through a series of exercises right at a nursing home where the team interacts with real residents in a real setting. This enables the evaluator to observe the team in action.
As the dog, handler, and evaluator move through the facility, the evaluator is looking for certain things: Does the dog respond to basic obedience commands (sit, down, stay, heel, leave it)? Is the dog in control? Does the handler communicate effectively with the dog? Do the dog and handler interact with the residents, promoting movement and conversation? Most of all, does the dog enjoy being a therapy dog?
The team must pass the evaluation to be eligible for therapy dog certification with Bright Spot Therapy Dogs. Once certified, the well-trained therapy dog team is ready to choose a visiting location that best suits them. Bright Spot has a list of more than 80 facilities throughout western Massachusetts, both health care and educational, requesting a Bright Spot therapy dog. If interested in becoming a Bright Spot therapy dog team, please visit our website to learn about our training/evaluation/certification process.