THE JOURNEY TO
PET THERAPY...
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
CONTINUES!!!
by Joyce McIntyre
DeeDee’s journey to pet therapy has ended, and we
have met our goal to have her certified by the end of
2015.
She PASSED the TDI, Therapy Dog
International, therapy dog test on September 8,
2015! What an exciting night that was for me; she
just acted excited because I was! The journey to pet
therapy may have ended with the passing of the TDI
therapy dog test, but her journey as a certified therapy dog has just begun. She has not been on a therapy visit yet since we are waiting for the ID card ,
but by the time you read this article we will be visiting four facilities (hospital, retirement resort, assisted living, and nursing home). We are still taking our
field trips to ride elevators as well as walk through
as many different doors as possible. For example,
almost all the facilities have the doors that operate
by pushing a button and swing wide open to accommodate a wheelchair, walker, or someone who can’t
open the door on their own. These doors just come
out with a force, and she is getting used to those as
well. The sliding door is also an entrance especially
The McCocker Girls Therapy Dog Pack
DeeDee is proud to be a certified therapy dog
at hospitals, and we even have a revolving door to
master. Going up and down flights of stairs is also
on our list of things to practice since we live in a one
story home. She does better with stairs than I do!
The therapy dog test was held at the Oklahoma
City Obedience Training Club where I belong and
where I had taken her for classes. We had approximately 15 dogs registered to evaluate that evening,
and since I cannot evaluate my own dog, we were in
the first group so I could help with the following
groups. The TDI test is done partly in a group and
partly individual. The group test consists of four
dogs, and they perform the behaviors as a group in
some of the areas. DeeDee was dog #1 in the first
group of four, and even though I knew she could
meet the requirements, I was still somewhat nervous
that we might not work well enough as a team to
pass. DeeDee, on the other hand, did not seem one
bit worried about it; in fact, she seemed very calm
and settled. She was not in the least bothered by the
125 lb dog that was waiting his turn to test or the
dog that towered over her in size. I had seen this
kind of confidence in her when she was in class with
seven large dogs and she was the only small dog
there. It certainly helped me know that she was not
shy or fearful. That was very important to our journey.
AMERICAN SPANIEL CLUB, INC. BULLETIN December 2015
Page 48