faithful friends therapy dogs

Faithful Friends Therapy Dogs offers a specialized training course designed to prepare prospective handlers and their dogs for the Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs (B&BTD) certification test. This course is taught by a certified professional trainer and consists of 12 sessions, each two hours long.

The curriculum covers a broad range of situations and stimuli, including familiarizing dogs with medical equipment, exposing teams to strange scents, noises, and unusual physical movements from strangers in a safe environment. It also details how to recognize stress in your dog and respond to keep them safe and comfortable, teaches handlers about patients’ rights and proper protocol (HIPAA), and emphasizes keeping necessary documentation and continuing education.

Before being accepted into the program, all prospective dogs and handlers must meet in person in a public situation for an evaluation of their interaction and basic obedience skills. Prerequisites for the course include having attended and passed a formal obedience course, demonstrating basic commands like “Sit,” “Down,” “Stay,” “Come,” and proper leash skills. Dogs must be friendly with children, adults, the elderly, and other dogs, and handlers should be polite, friendly, and compassionate.

Pricing Summary

They are an all-volunteer organization and never charge for therapy dog visits. Pricing for training courses is not mentioned.

Faithful Friends Therapy Dogs is an all-volunteer, 501c3 non-profit organization and a CT Chapter of The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs Inc. Their primary mission is to provide informed handlers and well-trained, affectionate, and obedient dogs for therapeutic contact with the elderly, children, and those in nursing homes, hospitals, rest homes, schools, and other locations.

They are a certified division of The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc., abiding by their strict rules and guidelines. They are also an official Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) affiliate group, working with schools, libraries, bookstores, and other venues as reading companions and literacy mentors for children.

Faithful Friends Therapy Dogs prides itself on being an all-volunteer organization and never charges for visits. They periodically offer specialized training courses, taught by a certified professional trainer, to help prepare prospective handlers and their dogs for the B&BTD certification test.

Accomplishments

Faithful Friends Therapy Dogs was formed by an experienced board of directors. The organization is a certified division of The Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs, Inc., and an official Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) affiliate group. They also have a licensed R.E.A.D. instructor as a member, and their training courses are taught by a certified professional trainer.

How to Get Started!

To get started, prospective dogs and handlers must first attend and pass a formal obedience course, demonstrating basic commands and proper leash skills. Dogs must be friendly with children, adults, the elderly, and other dogs, and handlers should be polite, friendly, and compassionate. After meeting these prerequisites, an in-person meeting in a public situation is required to evaluate interaction and basic obedience skills, and to answer any questions.