Therapy Dog Vs. Canine Good Citizen

WildFlower2350

Hi all!  Quick question...I have a 1-1&1/2 year old rescued American Bulldog mix.  I know I'm biased but she is the cutest thing with her monstrous head and people love her!  Bonus- she is a total attention wh**e and just adores being around people. Anyhoo...we went through puppy obedience and she did well and Im looking to continue classes this summer.  She has a very sweet disposition and I honestly think she is very intuitive- she can be a bit nutty but anytime we have been in public she has been a charmer and sat so politely around small kids and even a women in a wheelchair.  I feel she could have the potential to be a therapy dog and Id really love to train to visit people in the hospital/nursing homes.  Ive heard of therapy dogs international as well as canine good citizens...I understand there are some differences...can either certificate be sufficient to have her visit hospitals/the elderly?  She does have a lot of energy but are there other things to look for in regards to personality traits?  She's young so it probably wouldn't happen for a year or more until she settles down...thoughts?

nital

CGC is simply a basic obedience test.  It does not give you anything except bragging riights.  CGC is only through AKC.  A therapy dog test is a little more stringent than a CGC test.  There are many groups that test for therapy dogs, and many tests are similar to the CGC.  Some places give an abbreviated test if you bring in CGC paperwork, since you already passed that test.  Most therapy dog groups already have agreements with hospitals, nursing homes and schools in place, and you will pay an annual fee (mostly to help with the large insurance policy repay dog groups use to cover their members)

 As far as your dog, I'd make sure she has a solid "leave it" in case people have food they don't care to share, and they learn self control and aren't pushy about getting attention, since not everyone likes dogs.  Also, if you want to visit the elderly, some are fragile, so big lugs especially need to be gentle.  Pawing can easily scratch their delicate skin, and it can be problematic if they're on blood thinners.  

Caz1221

I'm way late on this, but both of my dogs are CGC certified, and one is therapy-dog certified (we visit a nursing home in our area).  As PP noted, there is a difference: CGC is focused on more basic good manners and does not certify your dog to visit hospitals, nursing homes, etc.  A therapy dog certification tends to be more involved than CGC, often including the entire CGC test plus additional items that are aimed at the types of situations one might encounter in a nursing home or hospital (wheelchairs, walkers, loud noises and alarms, etc.).  There are many organizations that do therapy dog certification, including Therapy Dog International ("TDI") and local groups.  My therapy dog (the darker pug in my siggy pic) is certified through a local program, which means he can only serve as a therapy dog in our state.  If you get certified through TDI, it's good nation-wide.

In terms of temperament for a therapy dog, I think it's important that they be very social and love people (all people no matter the age, gender, race, etc.) and attention and will accept erratic movements, clumsy petting on any part of their body, poking, tugging, etc. I'm not saying they will experience all of this, but elderly people often lack full control of their hands, so the dog has to be ok with that.  They need to be comfortable in any setting and with strange/unfamiliar objects and sounds. 

One of the reasons I chose not to get my second dog therapy-dog certified is because even though he enjoys people and attention, he doesn't seek it out, and I know he would get stressed out by going for multi-hour visits where he was petted by many people over a long period of time.  It's just not a good match for him. Meanwhile, my therapy pug isn't phased by anything and affirmatively seeks out attention from everyone he meets - he would accept petting and attention for days at a time.  HTH!

nital

Caz1221:

In terms of temperament for a therapy dog, I think it's important that they be very social and love people (all people no matter the age, gender, race, etc.) and attention and will accept erratic movements, clumsy petting on any part of their body, poking, tugging, etc. I'm not saying they will experience all of this, but elderly people often lack full control of their hands, so the dog has to be ok with that.  They need to be comfortable in any setting and with strange/unfamiliar objects and sounds. 

Especially true if you want to work with kids.  At the school we went to, we broke into groups of 4 or 5, and the kids read to the dogs.  I was looking one direction helping a girl read, and I looked back over to Duke, to see a child doing his best lion tamer imitation, holding Duke's mouth open, and trying to shove his head in.  Poor duke was just looking at me like "this is not what I signed up for!".   Within 15 min, this child also tried to climb on duke, and pick him up (no small feat for a 7 year old to pick up a great Dane mix) 

GrayGhost13

Whether or not you pursue therapy dog work, the skills on the CGC test are all very useful in everyday life, so I think working on your CGC would be a great next step now that you've completed basic obedience. After the CGC, you'll have even more experience working with her and have a better sense of what her talents are, perhaps.

GL!