I have loved the idea of therapy pets ever since I first heard about them some 20 years ago. All but one of my dogs have been well-suited to the task, but for various reasons I never got any of them certified to do the work. Darcy, for one, licked too much. My Delta Society student manual says dogs who frequently lick the handler, evaluator or assistant are “not ready.”
With Harper, though, I’m getting close. I spent all day Saturday getting a taste of what we would need to do to pass the evaluation. The morning was spent assisting at other teams’ evaluations. I crossed their paths on crutches, argued loudly with a fellow volunteer regarding the merits of Cavaliers vs. Vizslas, rushed up to people to pet their dogs, and was part of the “crowd” each team had to navigate. After each evaluation, we would discuss the team’s good points and where they needed work. Most of them were recertifications, and it was reassuring to see that even some of those dogs occasionally jumped up on people, were a little slow to respond to commands or needed to be refocused before performing their tasks. (Pictured are evaluator Maryanne Dell; her Tibetan Spaniel Jitterbug; and Steve, who is under the mistaken impression that Vizslas are better than Cavaliers.)
In the afternoon we watched a slide show that reprised the material in the workbook. Then came the fun part. The evaluators performed a series of skits and we had to point out what each handler did wrong–or right. I learned a lot from both sessions, and I think we have a reasonably good chance of passing if I can just keep Harper from going la-la during the evaluation. She’s capable of doing everything called for in the evaluation, but like me, she doesn’t always test well. It’s very difficult for her not to go right up to strangers, for instance. One of the evaluators mentioned that people with certain breeds, like Goldens, often wait until the dogs are about seven years old before getting them certified, just because it takes that long for their exuberance to mellow. I’m guessing Cavaliers are the same way.
We’ll be practicing a lot over the next few weeks. Evaluations are coming up late this month and in March. Wish us luck!
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