Animal Therapy

NDTC provides training for aspiring animal therapy teams. Courses are designed to help the handler and dog acquire and fine tune skills needed to pass the therapy animal evaluation to become a registered team.

NOTE: To be eligible for any animal therapy class, a dog should be mature and have a stable, friendly temperament; dogs that show any type of aggression or shyness are not appropriate for this class. AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certificate is required for this class.

All NDTC classes require proof of current rabies vaccination for dogs aged six months or older.

 
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Animal Therapy

Prerequisites
In order to be eligible for the Animal Therapy class, a dog should be mature and have a stable, friendly temperament; dogs that show any type of aggression or shyness are not appropriate for this class. 

Teams must have taken the first two levels of obedience training and have earned their AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification. A copy of your CGC certificate must be presented the first day of class.

Handlers must be at least 16 years of age. Dogs must be at least 16 months old and less than 10 years old at time of registration.

Courses required: Beginner Obedience, Canine Good Citizen

Goals
This course is designed to help handler and dog acquire and fine tune the skills needed to pass their animal therapy evaluation and be prepared for therapy visit challenges.

 

Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA)

There are a variety of local animal therapy organizations. NDTC offers training using the protocols required by TPC-Therapy Patient Connections, an affiliate of Intermountain Therapy Animals. This is a two-part course 

Part 1 will be lecture with focus on the human side of the team. This portion of the course requires handlers to own the TPC/ITA manual. Teams may purchase the textbook at the first class for $45 (not included in the class fee).  Animals will be crated during this portion of the class.

Part 2 will focus on the handler and dog as a team working through various scenarios needed to pass the TPC/ITA evaluation and become a successful therapy animal team. 

NOTE: In addition to this class, to become a registered with TPC/ITA, all teams will need to pass an open-book written test, an in-person team evaluation and complete a comprehensive veterinary exam.