Amber is now also a Therapy Dog since Dec. 2004!
Bella's Therapy Dog Training
Amber's companion and "older sister" Bella has
now completed her therapy dog training. She is a
born 'people dog', everyone is welcome and
treated like a long lost friend. After having
tried to mould her into my expectations and
having failed, I started to ask myself what this
dog was bred for and what did she do best. Well,
what do Goldens do best… pretty easy to answer
I'd say. They love people, water and apporting.
OK, then we start from there, I thought. Somehow
I got to know about therapy dog training in
Verein Partner Hunde Schweiz and asked for more
information. Before we noticed we were enrolled
on a course in spring 2003.
The
entrance test was divided into ten parts.
Obedience was high on the agenda. It wasn't
enough that Bella liked people, she had to be
able to be calm, no whining, jumping or any
extreme behaviour was acceptable. The purpose of
this test was to see if she and I had the basic
qualities for work in this field. Aggression
toward people or other dogs was a definite
reason not to be accepted. Well, there were no
aggressive dogs in sight but one handler team
was told to come back when the handler had her
beautiful Golden under control. There were ten
of us left. Bella passed all parts of the test
with flying colours. She seemed to know every
exercise and I loved it because she so obviously
loved it!
So
what did we do to see whether Bella was good for
the job? She had to:
-
Be able to walk heel on the left and
right on a lead beside me and then beside to
her unknown person
-
Walk by a row of dogs without showing any
aggression, growling or barking
-
Be calm when I meet another dog and the
handler. The dogs are on lead and the
handler greets Bella. Calm behaviour is
important (this kind of situations could
become chaotic when Bella takes a liking to
the handler or the other dog)
-
Be able to lie down and sit by command
and to wait in position when I go ten meters
ahead and come back
-
Be calm by surprising noises without
barking or showing any more than a mild
surprised reaction
-
Behave calm when meeting a person on
crutches or in a wheelchair. Bella is not
allowed to show any aggression or defensive
signs
-
Be able to play intensively with me and
to stop dead with one command
-
Be able to walk beside a wheelchair,
shopping trolley or baby buggy without
pulling
-
Stay with an unknown person for three
minutes when I go out of sight. She is not
allowed to pull or show signs of distress
The
final test was similar to the entrance test
except that now walking by a wheelchair, passing
heavy doors with a handicapped person and using
an alibi-lead was added to the program. After
all the theory, practice and on-the-job training
Bella proved to be a real talent. We are now
visiting a handicapped boy once a week. He loves
to take Bella for walks and very clearly our
golden Golden enjoys it too! Amber might do the
same training when she is a little older.
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