Yesterday, seven great dogs and their handlers completed our Bright Spot Therapy Dog Training course held at Animal Alliances on Damon Road in Northampton, Massachusetts, where they learned the skills and techniques required for making successful Therapy Dog visits to health care and educational facilities.
Next up for each team is an evaluation that takes place in an actual nursing home setting. Here, a Bright Spot evaluator observes the dog and handler as they utilize the skills and techniques they were taught in class.
The final step for a team that successfully passes it’s evaluation, is a health check given by the dog’s regular veterinarian and completion of our veterinary health certificate which attests to the good health of the dog. This completes the steps required for becoming a certified Bright Spot Therapy Dog, which started with a phone interview.
We look forward to welcoming the new teams that worked hard to achieve their goal of becoming a Therapy Dog. As a Bright Spot certified Therapy Dog Team, a member has access to our members only portion of our website and our List of Visiting Opportunities offering a myriad of visiting environments in health care and education. It’s always exciting to hear from our teams after they have selected their visiting locations and have started making their visits. They often send photos of their dogs, proudly suited up in their Bright Spot blue Therapy Dog vests and brightening the day of those they are visiting.