If you wish to become certified as a therapy dog team with your dog through 4Paws
You must be 18 years old. You will need to submit a complete application and payment. A complete application includes:
- Cover Letter for Application
- Canine Medical History
- Canine Profile
- Handler profile
- Media and Liability Release
- C-barq questionnaire
- Proof of current rabies vaccine
Application fee: $125 for one person and one dog; a second person with the same dog is an additional $75. One person with two dogs is $200. Two people with two dogs is $350.
Upcoming Classes
Dates for 2025 Classes and Evaluations
- February 1, 2, and 8
- April 5, 6, and 12
Additional Information
Your application must include the correct fee, although we will not cash the check until you attend the training. Check must be payable to 4Paws, Inc. There are only limited spots available in each training session, and it is first come, first-served. You should indicate what training dates you are interested in. You need to attend the two consecutive Saturdays. The Sunday session is optional, but it is taught by our evaluator who will give you great hints on how to train your dog.
We encourage you to apply for an upcoming class as soon as you are able to do so. We really need to determine whether it is cost effective to hold each class by knowing the potential number of participants. Each class involves rental space and a significant number of volunteers. We close applications 2½ weeks before the training. (18 days).
Although we do not require any specific dog training class, we do require that you and your dog attend at least one set of dog training class. We do not have any breed specific requirements, but we do ask that you know your dog well. Your dog does NOT have to get along with other dogs because visits are generally done by individual teams (dog and human).
One of the forms that we ask for is the C-Barq questionnaire. This form is a great opportunity for you to take an objective look at your dog and determine if he or she loves people and has basic manners. These are minimum requirements for a Therapy dog. We recommend that your dog be with you for at least 6 months to a year so you know each other well.
If you submit an incomplete application, we will contact you by email (please make sure we can read yours) to have you correct/amend the application. Your spot is not guaranteed until the application is complete.
We will inform you when your application is complete.
About two weeks before class, we will send you directions to the training location and our training manual. We expect that you will read the manual and complete the questionnaire on pp. 9-10 before coming to class. The questionnaire will be collected before the class starts. You must get an 85% on the questions in order to become certified.
The training class consists of:
One Saturday, which you attend without your dog virtually all day. This class covers a variety of topics that you will encounter as the human member of a Therapy Dog team as well as giving you an overview of what the evaluation will entail.
An optional Training session on Sunday after the first Saturday. Our evaluator will go over the evaluation and how you would train for certain behaviors.
The morning of the second Saturday is required for anyone who wants to work in an educational setting with children. The afternoon of the second Saturday is the evaluation of the potential Therapy Dog team. We are looking for how you and your dog work together. You will sign up for your evaluation time during the first Saturday class. We will go over the evaluation during that class, and you can also attend our training on Sunday.
We evaluate a dog’s good manners, confidence and willingness to work with you. The evaluation also allows us to see how you and your dog act and react in a variety of situations. The basics include,
- Walking dog on a loose leash.
- Handling dog’s leash properly
- Sitting to meet a friendly stranger.
- Knowing what to do when someone unusual, exuberant, or loud approaches you and your canine.
- Maneuvering around hospital equipment, such as wheelchairs, canes and walkers.
- Running into unexpected tasty treats on the floor.
- Tolerating gentle touching and grooming
- Taking treats gently.
- Working as a team during the evaluation.
The teams that pass the evaluation will meet with us to discuss where you would like to volunteer. You will be measured for the dog and human uniform and have the badge picture taken. We require both team members to have a uniform; the cost varies depending on what you chose from $40-$100.
If your team does not pass, the evaluator will give you suggestions about your dog, and you have up to one year to return for a re-evaluation.
After you have decided on your location, you will go through a mentoring process in which you observe a seasoned therapy dog team during a visit (your dog stays home). You and your dog are then observed at the next visit by a seasoned team member. We ask you to plan to spend a few hours a month visiting a site that you have agreed to. There is some additional time required to groom your dog before every visit.
The annual renewal fee for teams is $50
We know that many people are on limited or fixed incomes and so we offer scholarships to help defray the initial costs of becoming a certified team. Please email us for specifics if you need additional information.