# potential therapy dog?



## livkight (Dec 10, 2013)

I am bringing home a little female havanese (whom we plan to call Stella) after Christmas. She'll be 12 weeks old then. My dream is to start working towards having her perform as a therapy dog in nursing homes and/or hospitals. 

I think her personality is well-suited to that work-- I actually picked her specifically because I want to do therapy! She is confident and out-going, very friendly and curious about everything. Stella didn't seem easily startled or jumpy at all. She seems very self-assured, but was not pushy. Out of the litter, she was the most at ease being away from her mama and litter-- she didn't seem to mind at all! 

I know that personality as a baby can only predict so much, but I was wondering if anyone with experience with doing therapy work with havs could weigh in on 1) if Stella might have good qualities or how to further evaluate her aptitude, and 2) how I can start socializing her or doing simple training now that might serve her well as a therapy dog. 

(Don't worry-- I'm not going to make her do therapy with her if that's not in the stars. Our current labradoodle, Booker, is not a therapy-type guy, even though I was hoping he might be! If she's not either, that's no problem. She's a companion first.)

Any thoughts or advice out there?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

livkight said:


> I am bringing home a little female havanese (whom we plan to call Stella) after Christmas. She'll be 12 weeks old then. My dream is to start working towards having her perform as a therapy dog in nursing homes and/or hospitals.
> 
> I think her personality is well-suited to that work-- I actually picked her specifically because I want to do therapy! She is confident and out-going, very friendly and curious about everything. Stella didn't seem easily startled or jumpy at all. She seems very self-assured, but was not pushy. Out of the litter, she was the most at ease being away from her mama and litter-- she didn't seem to mind at all!
> 
> ...


LOTS of people do therapy work with Havs! I think there are more that would be suited than wouldn't be. It wasn't one of my goals for Kodi, and right now we're really busy with competitive things. But as he has matured, I've been pleased to see how he reacts to people who are elderly, upset or sick. He has an amazing way of knowing just what they need.

The best thing you can do is to make sure you do LOTS and LOTS of well-planned, positive socialization. This means expose her to as many people as possible, but make sure they are people who will act appropriately with her, so it's always a positive experience for her. At the same time, enroll her in Puppy Kindergarten and start that also-important dog/dog socialization. Follow that with basic obedience training, so that she can handle the behavioral expectations of being a therapy dog.

&#8230; Then wait for her to grow up! Some Havs are quiet cuddle bugs from the beginning, but many are very busy babies! If she seems too much of a "wild child", don't give ump hope. It may just be a maturity issue. Kodi was a VERY "energetic" puppy/adolescent. Always sweet and friendly, but too high an energy level to be used for therapy. As he matured, settled and learned better self control, that changed. Now I think he'd be great at it! Maybe it will be his retirement job!


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## Sonic and Aries (Feb 15, 2012)

I do therapy work with my oldest (still fairly young at 2 1/2). He loves it and they definitely love when he visits! It wasn't one of my original goals, but after meeting my little guy and seeing him interact with others and how much he really seems to enjoy it, I decided to put in a little work and go that route.

I recommend finding a god positive based trainer in your area and trying to get in contact with them. You can do it yourself, but in my opinion a trainer is the best route to get some good socialization with a wide variety of people. We took Sonic through many classes (he was our first, so they partly, or mostly, trained us how to work with him).

Definitely go to the website of whichever therapy organization you decide to use, to review the testing requirements. So you will know what you should work on. They also usually give you hints and tips to work on each test item.

Most of all, enjoy having a new baby at home!!! It will be a blast!!

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Oh! I should also add that TDI does not allow you to feed raw, so if that matters to you, you should know it ahead of time!


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## livkight (Dec 10, 2013)

Thank you for the tips! We'll definitely be enrolling her in some beginner training classes and will get her nicely socialized. Raw food is not something I'm ready to take on, so we'll be ok with that!


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

I chair trustees and the house committee at a residential/nursing/dementia care home for elderly actors, so am fairly up on therapy dogs that we have there; my puppy, Cuba (well, she's 9 months old now, so quite the grown up) visits with me often. When they are very small puppies, with their needle-sharp teeth, you have to be careful - elderly people have frail skin. But just having her in the room raises everyone's spirits, she is adored by them all. Tycho, my Coton de Tulear, also visits. We have two chocolate labradors who visit regularly, too. They are the perfect height for patting, but obviously can't do the snuggling up that a Havanese can do. It's easy for me because I can take Cuba there not as an official PAT dog (not sure if they are called that in the States? Pets As Therapy...), although I did plan to get her accredited at some point - it's more sensible from an insurance point of view. I don't know if we have the 'no raw food-feeding' stipulation here, I'd never heard of it, need to check. If we do then I shall have to give up on it because I'd rather my dogs ate at least some raw food....


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## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Two of my guys are certified Therapy Dogs. Lexi and Logan both did not get certified till they are five years old. They are FANTASTIC!! We visit assisted living facilities, demential/althzheimers patients, kindergarten classes, and have worked with autistic children. 

I feel that Havanese are a great breed to work with. They are smart, sweet, and love people. 

In my opinion, you should use this first year to year and a half to set the base for a good therapy dog. Puppy classes, obedience classes, socialize, socialize, socialize! Once the "puppy stage" is over, the dog is better able to concentrate on his/her job. Which includes learning sit, stay, up, - the ever important "LEAVE IT" - and many other requirements for the testing. 

I am so glad that you are thinking of doing this with her - it has brought much joy to me and my pups!


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