A therapy dog is a common term, which means dog trained to render tenderness and solace to people who are undergoing treatment in hospitals and have free time by them, also to people who have entered the life of retirement or are in some kind of stressful condition. Therapy dogs are also common in special schools where children who have learning disabilities get education. Therapy dog is supposed to be like a friend who stays around you all the time.

This article will serve your guide to therapy dog training. First of all, you must choose a dog that you want to make into a therapy dog. This is a very important step as not every dog can be trained to become a therapy dog. A dog’s temperament is what decides whether it can be a therapy dog or not. The dog must be friendly in nature, must show keen interest in his surroundings and must not be hyperactive; showing no feelings to the world around it.

Second step is where you are to start training your dog gently. You must understand this is a process, which takes a lot of time and demands a lot of patience. One must comprehend the fact that dog is an animal that cannot think or respond like humans. Therapy dog training is advised to start gradually with basic commands like sit, stand, and stay instilled to dog initially. The dog must be taught manners of staying in the house without making a mess and must also be taught to be obedient.

Third step is where you teach your dog to be gentle towards strangers. Dogs have been blessed with the sense of loyalty. It is often seen that a dog gets disturbed when a stranger tries to interact with his master. This is something that a therapy dog cannot do, as it is to stay and interact with strangers all the time. So this feeling of restlessness must be eliminated from the dog.

Fourth step is when you introduce your dog to external world. You should walk his to everyday life places like parks, parades, flea markets and other outdoor events so that it gets accustomed to the world outside house doors and also to the sounds that are present outdoors like honking sounds of cars or children playing/screaming in a park. This is done so that the animal does not get restless when he is exposed to these sounds after therapy dog training.

Fifth step is when you start improving your dog’s manners. In this step you are to discourage your dog from certain unpleasant actions which might make other people despise it. These actions include jumping, sniffing, barking, licking and growling.

In the last step, you are supposed to make sure your dog is healthy. You must also make sure that its appearance is presentable. The dog must look very clean and tidy as it is be around random people who have no affection for the dog. To make them get interested the dog must look best.