Our New Therapy Dog

Wilbon's Katie Scarlett O'Hara CGC TDI

Katie took the Therapy Dog test today and she passed! Hooray!!! I was so proud of her. I won't say she passed with flying colors because a bit of her wild child side did show itself and she also slimed the evaluator ;-) Her main difficulty was walking on a loose lead. Mostly she did great, but she got a little distracted sometimes by all of the other dog smells that were in the room. Everyone thought she was very sweet though and commented on how gorgeous she is. She did beautifully on the sit, down, stay and recall. I was a bit worried about the recall because on her way to me she had to pass about three feet in front of a dog that was not friendly. She didn't even look in that dog's direction, but came straight to her mama and did a perfect "front" sit.

The test includes the following:

1) Accepting a friendly stranger

2) Sitting politely for petting

3) Appearance and Grooming - the evaluator inspects the dog, lightly brushes it, and examines its ears and feet

4) Walk on a loose lead

5) Walk through a crowd

6) Sit, Down & Stay

7) Coming when called

8) Reaction to another dog

9) Reaction to distractions - the instructor knocked a walker over; Katie completely ignored it

10) Supervised Separation - I left her with the evaluator for 3 minutes

11) Say hello to people including children

12) Leave it

13) Comfort around medical equipment - such as walkers & wheelchairs

14) Acclimation to infirmities

Now that Katie is a therapy dog I have to figure out what we want to volunteer for. I should get a packet in the mail soon telling me what opportunities are available in our area. I'm hoping for a children's reading program...stay tuned for the adventures of Katie the Therapy Dog.

(Gary made a little movie of us getting ready for the official photo)