Volunteering to share the enthusiastic, nonjudgmental, love of your dog with those in need, is a special kind of joy. Sometimes dogs and their handlers just require a bit of training to make the dream of volunteering a reality, or for those already volunteering, to take their skills to the next level. This class emphasizes teaching the handler and dog to work together in a confident relationship, developing the knowledge and skills necessary to be a successful therapy dog team.

Classes involve information on the therapy dog approval process in the Vancouver area, practice of a typical therapy dog test item, and instruction on developing skills that will be helpful during therapy dog visitations. Positive reinforcement training techniques including food rewards, praise, cue words, and hand signals will be used to guide the human-dog teams in learning to communicate with each other. All this, in a stress-free environment designed to be fun for you and your dog.

Register Here: Training Volunteer Therapy Dog Teams

Fridays at 6:15 PM or 7:30 PM

DOGSmart Room P

Taught by Trainer / Therapy Dog Specialist - Elizabeth M. Simpson, Ph.D.

*COVID protections – classes are kept small allowing social distancing, each team has a designated working area, all handlers and trainers will wear masks, the room will be cleaned before and after each class.