Share Your Dog’s Love

How to Become a Therapy Dog Team

As a Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs evaluator, I help people understand if their dog is right for therapy dog work – and if so, help potential teams with training, test prep and certification testing.

A potential therapy dog needs to naturally possess certain characteristics.  These characteristics are not all trainable.  Some characteristics are not observable within a young dog, but can mature into with proper guidance.

Therapy dog class graduation

A therapy dog class gathers in celebration of passing their certification.

Therapy Dog Prep Options

A lineup of seven different dog breeds sitting against a white background.

  • Set up an in-home consult to meet your dog, discuss the process and give you a better sense of where you may be within the process.

    This can be a first step to understand what will be involved and preparation for a class or testing.

    ➜ Contact me to schedule

  • If you are interested in becoming a therapy team and want a quick review to see how you’d be tested, I offer a two week class assessment.  The first week is informational to learn the testing process and what to expect.  The second week is a mock Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs (B&BTD) testing.  If you perform well, you can sign up for Therapy Dog Refresh & Test, which includes B&BTD testing.  If you need more training, you can sign up for a Therapy Dog Skills or Test Prep Class.

    This is recommended for mature dogs with previous group class training.

    ➜ See upcoming Group Assessment Option

  • Sponsored by Roxy™ Therapy Dogs and the VIA of Doylestown, this specialized class track is designed for handlers pursuing a training path toward therapy team certification with their dog.

    STEP 1 : Therapy Dog Skills - dogs 1 year & older

    This eight week class is the first step for handlers with the goal of becoming a potential therapy team. This training class introduces standard skills as well as unique cues and concepts needed for this wonderful work in the future. This is a training & coaching based class for dogs between the ages of 1 year and older, with or without training.

    STEP 2 : Therapy Dog Test Prep - dogs with training prerequisite

    This shorter, five week class is designed for teams that have completed Therapy Dog Skills or have already earned their CGC. This class prepares teams for the fourteen Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs (B&BTD) test items. Teams learn how to highlight their dog’s temperament, display their dog’s polite manners and demonstrate team skills for upcoming certification testing.

    STEP 3 : Therapy Team Ready - dogs with training prerequisite

    This quick two week review class is designed for teams that have completed the Roxy Therapy Dogs Prep Classes and ready for Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs (B&BTD) group testing.  Two weeks of B&BTD test review, including a B&BTD mock test.  The next week a B&BTD testing will be offered.

    ➜ See upcoming Class Track Options

  • Therapy Dog Refresh & Test - mature dogs with training

    If you are ready for a Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dogs (B&BTD) group testing, need to re-test, or re-certify from different therapy dog organization, this option is for you.  Sign up for one review week & mock B&BTD test before the real deal!

    ➜ See upcoming Test Date