Community Therapy Dog Society (Therapy Dog Handler)

• Background/police check required
• Appropriate for volunteers aged between 18 and 55
• Appropriate for volunteers aged 55 and over
• Training or orientation required

Therapy Dog handler is a voluntary position which includes the handler (you) and your Dog.  Your dog should enjoy being patted, stroked, and cuddled by strangers. They should be comfortable with wheelchairs, walkers, canes and groups of people and noise.  At all times, the dogs are on leash and supervised by their handler. All Handlers are required to submit a Police Check before being placed in a program. Therapy Dog handlers can participate in several programs: Listening Tails (LT) is a program designed to help young children improve their reading skills and confidence in reading out loud by reading to therapy dogs. The children read for 15-20 minutes once a week for six weeks in a relaxed environment. Visiting Tails (VT) was set up with one objective in mind: to enhance a senior’s quality of life by having them interact with our therapy dogs.  The dogs (and their handlers) normally spend for 40-50 minutes on each visit, depending on the number of seniors present. The dogs and their handlers meet with seniors either in a group setting or visit room to room, depending on the preference of the seniors. Caring Tails (CT) is a program that recognizes people need help coping with stress/anxiety caused either through a traumatic event that has happened to them or a short term challenge that life has thrown at them. The type of therapeutic help provided by our dogs is tailor made to fit each situation but has the common theme that dogs provide a level of comfort that only they can. Some examples of how our dogs can help would be: visiting high school students before and during exam times, being alongside students who suffer from high anxiety on a day-to-day basis, being there for families who are trying to pull their lives together after a traumatic event such as their house burning down. These programs are available in a number of locations in Calgary and the surrounding communities. To become a therapy dog team, you and your dog must pass an assessment. The goal of the assessment is to obtain information on whether your dog will be suited to and comfortable working as a therapy dog. It will be noted whether your dog exhibits good overall manners, is house trained and whether your dog can remain calm, and respond effectively to handler instructions in a distracting environment. For more information, visit our website at www.ctds.ca