Pet Lovers

[doxie1]

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@Warrior2022 wrote:

I am posting this here to hopefully cut down on a heated thread.

I am working very hard to train my dog to be a therapy dog.  This takes time and money.  A therapy dog is used for hospital visits, nursing homes, childrens reading groups.  Yes, this will make me so happy, but more so for others.

Anyway, my dog is skittish.  Just jumps when the wind blows.  Otherswise he is perfect for the job.  The only places I take him in public is to the pet store.  He honestly loves it there.  Taking him out on a leash at home is awful,  He turns into a 100 lb lead weight.  

Today my trainer told me that he needs to be out in public more.  She suggested some places to take him.  So today we will be going to the dollar store.  Funny cuz, I never go to the dollar store.

Just wanted to share why some people may take their dogs everywhere.

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@Warrior2022 

I read the first paragrapg and thought it was great that you are training your dog as a therapy dog. The second paragraph kind of alarmed me because skittish dogs tend to be more likely to bite or snap out of fear.I think you would benefit from mastereing basic and intermediate obedience first. You do not need a 100 pound dead weight on a hospital visit.

I am glad you are using a trainer and socializing is important.

Your last sentence reminded  me of a friend that was emotionally attached to her dog and wanted to take it everywhere. She finally realized she was thinking more of herself than her dog. She takes him some places but certainly not everywhere.

You may want to check with your insurance agent to be sure you are covered in case of a dog bite or snap. You would not want to be sued or have to put your dog down.

I think therapy dogs are great but they are not meant to be everywhere. Some hospitals and schools have stopped their use inside the building due to people with allergies and phobias of dogs I am sure liabilty plays a role as well.

Good luck with your training.

doxie

[CAMOGIRL]

Those emotional support dogs are great for people that really need them.

I think they do help people a lot with certain issues,

They should be allowed wherever a seeing eye dog is. But of course, it should be certified as such with all the proper paperwork in order.

Any dogs that are used for these purposes are put thru good training.

And, are 100% loyal to their owner. They are their best friend and protector.

And, as far as people taking their dog everywhere.... well gotta say... there just aren’t any

dog’s allowed inside my home of any kind no matter who you are.

Leave it at home or leave it out back in the yard thank you.

I do like dog’s don’t get me wrong.🙂

[doxie1]

Service animals, emotional support animals and therapy animals are different .They do not have all the same rights or training. I think the service animals are the only ones that are certified to go anywhere. 

It looks like the training is much more extensive for the service animals.

The therapy animals seem to have training focused more on visits to places where people are as social ambassadors.

It would make sense if a therapy dog was going to go to the same places as a service dog they would need the same extensive training. This training seems to be done by an accredited group instead of the pet owner.

I think it is fascinating to read about the different ones. For those of you that have therapy dogs did you have to do anything different with your insurance to cover if the dog bit someone?

Thanks to everyone for sharing.

I hope the training goes well for the OP.

doxie

[MoonieBaby]

I enjoy seeing pets - anytime/any place/any day!

ALWAYS MAKES ME SMILE.

That said, if I see someone mistreating their pet - IT'S ON!   grrrrrrrr!!!!!!

[TW]

Just got back from Germany.  There people take their dogs everywhere.  They are allowed in Restaurants too.  Don't know why this is such an issue in the U.S.  Especially since most dogs these days are cleaner and better behaved than their owners. 

[Marp]

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@TW wrote:

Just got back from Germany.  There people take their dogs everywhere.  They are allowed in Restaurants too.  Don't know why this is such an issue in the U.S.  Especially since most dogs these days are cleaner and better behaved than their owners. 

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LOL @TW , I think you answered your own why question.

[Annabellethecat66]

I just watched a show that talked about experimentation being done where a dog will snif out CANCER from humans.

I've heard about a cat or two that seems to be able to do that (in a nursing home, those who will die soon).

But this is done under scientific processes.  The goal is to develop something that would be smelled or injested that would let us know the person has cancer.

It mentioned a specific cancer found in females.

I've already deleted the show I saw it on but I went 'fishing' on the internet.  

I found various articles where these test are being done.  This one came the closest to what I saw on TV.  The end game would be to eventually develop an electronic machine that could detect cancer that is often hidden deep within the body and doesn't show up until it's spread.

Here is some of what the article says:

Introducing the electronic nose
Although they don’t have furry coats, there are “electronic noses” that can pick up the volatile molecules produced by cancer cells with greater accuracy than a real life cold, wet one.  This kind of technology is being tested in a range of cancers, including breast and lung.

It’s still early days for electronic noses, and we need to see a lot more research to make sure the machines are accurate and reliable at detecting cancer.  But once the technology has advanced further, it’s likely that they will have wide applications for detecting many different types of cancer.  And they won’t need feeding or walking either.

And because I like to give credit where I found it:

https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2009/02/03/can-dogs-detect-the-smell-of-cancer/

[Warrior2022]

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@doxie1 wrote:

Service animals, emotional support animals and therapy animals are different .They do not have all the same rights or training. I think the service animals are the only ones that are certified to go anywhere. 

It looks like the training is much more extensive for the service animals.

The therapy animals seem to have training focused more on visits to places where people are as social ambassadors.

It would make sense if a therapy dog was going to go to the same places as a service dog they would need the same extensive training. This training seems to be done by an accredited group instead of the pet owner.

I think it is fascinating to read about the different ones. For those of you that have therapy dogs did you have to do anything different with your insurance to cover if the dog bit someone?

Thanks to everyone for sharing.

I hope the training goes well for the OP.

doxie

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Thank you.  The group that I joined covers my insurance if I am on a planned visit with them.  I have read you cam get private insurance and it's not that expensive.  I am still in the training stages so who knows what the future will bring.

Emotional support dogs are the only animals that don't need any training or testing.  Just a Dr's note.