A therapy dog is a 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 are living a life of retirement or are in some kind of stressful situation. 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. Old people are often in situations where their close relations, who are busy in perusing their spurting lives, leave them alone. These dogs are trained in a particular manner that allows them to socialize and mix up with random people. As a therapy dog, a personal pet can play a vital role in recovery or learning programs.

Therapy dogs are not part of some special breed that has such friendly characteristics, but a therapy dog can be come from any breed, and therapy dog training is what makes a normal dog into a therapy dog.

Consider the fact that therapy dog provides unconditional love and warmness, which helps lower blood pressure, eases pain and reduces depression, it is a win situation for both the doctors and patients or teaches and students, whatever may the situation be.

As far as treatment is concerned, prime concern is the temperament of the dog concerned. You are advised to choose a dog that has a calm and friendly behavior. Treatment also concentrates on this aspect greatly and improves these skills in the dog. A dog must not be hyperactive, one who shows no interest in its surrounds or a dog that is not very friendly/social, treatment cannot change such a dog. Overall, depending on temperament, not every dog can be a therapy dog. A dog must be sensitive to human touch and be content to be patted if it is ever to become a therapy dog.

A therapy dog’s primary job is to make people feel comfortable whenever it is around them. 5 out of 10 people say that they feel uncomfortable when in company of a dog. It is not abnormal to be afraid of a dog as it is a wild animal that, if left free, kills its prey. So one is always a little apprehensive while making contact with a dog. Children specially feel terrified by a dog; the sound of dog barking scares them. Even adults find it disturbing. Completely opposing to that, a therapy dog is supposed to give you a friendly and warm feeling. This is prime quality of these dogs as they are present in environments where disabled/ill people live. The god might need to be lifted into an individual’s lap or might climb into someone’s bed to sit or lie comfortably there.

These dogs are also supposed to provide a very welcoming experience to people who are visiting a placed housing these dogs. They are also able to play games that are taught to them under controlled conditions where there attacking abilities are killed completely.