Therapy Dog Training

Trusted Trainer and Assessor

Sarah is proud to announce she is now a trusted trainer with Therapy Dog Training UK. She is able to offer training and assessments to allow your dog to certify as a therapy dog. The training process is made up of the following:

• Purchasing the 2 workshops (known as Visiting Therapy Dog workshops 1&2) needed to enrol in the course via this link here.
• Complete a temperament assessment to check your dog is suitable to become a therapy dog and check for any training needs.
• Any training sessions needed to get your dog up to scratch (either via 121s, group classes or practicing at home using the online videos via workshops 1&2).
• Complete the final assessment.  On completion of the assessment Therapy Dog Training UK will issue and send out your certificate.

All therapy dogs need to be over 18 months before completing the final assessment but dogs of any age are welcome to start the process. Dogs will be checked to ensure vaccinations and microchipping are up to date. They will need to know cues such as:

• Sit
• Down
• Go to a mat
• Door manners
• Extended sits, downs and stays
• Recall
• Neutrality to dogs
• Loose lead walking

Once dogs have successfully completed the assessments dogs will be able to go into schools, care homes, hospitals etc but DO NOT have access right into shops as assistance dogs do.

If you would like to book a temperament assessment, please ensure you have completed at least Visiting Therapy Dog Workshop 1 and then contact Sarah here:

4 week course

We offer therapy dog classes, in blocks of 4 weeks (1 hr per week) which helps you and your dog practice your training that you will have learnt from workshops 1 & 2, plus much more. You will be guided by a qualified trainer and have the added benefit of having distractions around you. You will also build up a new group of friends / support network who are all going through the same process.

Your dog will need to be 18 months old (please contact us if they are younger) and will need to have completed a level of training to Bronze level (Kennel Club Good Citizen award) or working at East Anglian Dog Training Intermediate class level. They must at least be confident with ‘walk on loose lead’ ‘sit’ ‘down’ ‘wait’ ‘stay’ ‘recall’ ‘call away from a distraction’ and ‘leave it.’

We will be working in an area with 4 or 5 other dogs so they will need to be happy in that environment. All instructional videos for these and more can be found in the online course Visiting Therapy Dog Workshops 1&2. They must have a great temperament and be confident and happy to meet other dogs & people.

Classes are £65 for the 4 weeks.

If you are interested in classes, please register your interest via the link below.