What is a Therapy Dog?

Therapy dogs are dogs that go with their owners to volunteer in settings such as schools, hospitals, and nursing homes.

From working with a child who is learning to read to visiting a senior in assisted living, therapy dogs and their owners work together as a team to improve the lives of other people.

Therapy dogs are not service dogs.  Service dogs are dogs that are specially trained to perform specific tasks to help a person who has a disability. An example of a service dog is a dog who guides an owner who is blind, or a dog that assists someone who has a physical disability. Service dogs stay with their person and have special access privileges in public places such as on planes, restaurants, etc. Therapy dogs, the dogs who will be earning the AKC Therapy DogTM title, do not have the same special access as service dogs.

It is unethical to attempt to pass off a therapy dog as a service dog for purposes such as flying on a plane or being admitted to a restaurant.

American Rottweiler Club Pet Therapy Program

Many Rottweilers and their owners make a difference within their community by enriching peoples’ lives through the power of human-animal relationships. These dogs and handlers do a service not only to the people they visit, but to the Rottweiler breed itself by demonstrating to the public that Rottweilers are a calm loving breed.

By raising public awareness of the services Rottweilers provide, community members will be able to provide a more welcoming and supportive environment where people are healthier and happier because therapy dogs share their lives.

Therapy dogs have been attributed with helping improve social skills, building confidence levels, improving behavior and raising self-esteem in school age children.  The dog builds excitement about reading. This is a great opportunity for students to flourish and their reading scores go up.

The characteristics of a therapy dog are disposition, temperament and desire. A good therapy dog must be friendly, patient, confident, at ease in all situations, gentle, and most importantly, with the help of his handler be able to handle whatever situations may arise.

This starts with a good socialization program, which lays the ground work for everything that comes along in life. Socialization simply means to introduce your Rottweiler to different situations and many environments.  Teach them how to cope and respond in a healthy and acceptable manner to the spectrum of people, animals, places, and things they might encounter along the road of life.

By exposing your Rottweiler to different stimuli, they learn to develop confidence and ease. This goes a long way in helping them become resilient in the face of unsettling situations. The way they respond to environmental stimuli is a product of their owners’ training and management.

Even if you adopt an adult Rottweiler, you can apply canine socialization principles to help them become more stable, happy, trustworthy companions. Socialization does not end at puppyhood. While the foundation for good behavior should be laid during the first few months, good owners encourage and reinforce social skills and responsiveness to commands throughout the lifetime of your dog.

There is not just one kind of therapy dog anymore! There are many places and ways to volunteer. You can visit nursing homes, assisted living facilities, schools, hospitals, court rooms, prisons, juvenile detention centers, participate in reading to the dog programs, or take advantage of a multitude of other opportunities. The idea is to find out which of these areas work best for both you and your dog.