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Any Basenji Therapy dogs?

Basenji Talk
  • ?

    I was wondering if there are any therapy B's and whats your story! How did you get involved, what kind of training did you do, do you visit with children the elderly? My boyfriend was waiting in Front of the grocery store for me the other day with Garrett and a couple was telling him they met a therapy basenji at the hospital!

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  • J

    I would love to participate in our local HABIT (Human and Animal Bond in TN) program, however my Hollie would not be an ideal candidate. She has too much energy and strange things weird her out… She was adopted from a shelter, we don't know much about her past.

    I would be interested to hear any stories about B's being therapy dogs.

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  • annandaelA

    That's sweet. My B's aren't Therapy dogs…yet. But I will be taking them through some training to get them certified.

    Haus Annandael Basenjis

    est.2004

    "Love, Wellness, and Quality"

    "We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own, live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan."

    –Irving Townsend

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  • basiB

    One of my B's Cali was a registered PAT dog until we moved out here to Germany. I no longer do it with her as I don't speak the language yet, though she has been in the local English primary school to see the kids there.
    I found it to be very rewarding and she loved doing it as she thrives on attention. She has visited the old and the young but I think she prefers the young more for some reason.
    I took her to the home that my gran was in until she passed away last year and it was so nice to see my grans eyes light up when she went into the room. She had dimentia and didn't know who anyone was anymore and Cali was the only thing that she would react to as she has always owned dogs herself.

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  • tanzaT

    There are a number of Basenji Therapy dogs… I don't think the people are on this list, however

    Pat Fragassi

    Tanza Basenjis

    www.tanzabasenjis.net

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  • E

    I used to always take Senji with me to the nursing home where my grandmother stayed for 1 1/2 years before she passed away. They allowed people to bring pets in to visit. Senji knew exactly where grandma's room was, even though it was down at the end of the hall. He also liked to jump into bed with grandma's roommate, who was a middle-aged stroke patient. He never got snarky or nippy at any of the other residents. It's like he knew they were old and disabled. The only time he's act up would be when he'd encounter the resident cat. :D

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    @wizard: How does one become a therapy dog? My Gossy has a great temperment and gets along with people really well. This sounds like something we could do together. Start calling around to your local hospitals and nursing homes and ask if they have a pet therapy program and what it involves. (You might have to explain what you mean to get a good answer. lol) Some places require certification through a therapy dog company, others do not. They might just want to meet and evaluate the dog or have their own assessment test of some kind. There are several therapy organizations, the most common is TDI. http://www.tdi-dog.org/ If you look at the links on the left, there is one for "upcoming tests" and that will give you an idea of where you can get them certified. There are no preliminary requirements for doing the test, but most dog training clubs offer some kind of therapy dog/CGC prep classes or just a general obedience class can help. TDI uses the AKC canine good citizen test plus 4 extra testing criteria. (having to pass by food without eating, being around kids and hospital equipment, etc.) Once you feel your dog has the social skills and obedience training to take the test, you can contact the test sites and sign up. They usually run around $20 to take the test. Once you pass, to become certified you have to have a thorough vet check with testing and proof of vaccinations, and also sign something that's like a code of ethics. The big thing about being certified is that then TDI provides insurance for wherever you visit in case something were to ever happen when you're doing your visits. However there is a big list of rules you must follow to be in compliance with the insurance, like only using specific collars (no chokers) and not using your certification to get your dog into places, etc. (therapy dogs are NOT service dogs) A facility that does not require certification from TDI or the like will probably have their own testing procedure and rules because I'm sure they'll have to have insurance coverage too. So TDI would be a great thing to do, but contact your local facilities first because you may not have to go that route. All my kids are TDI therapy dogs, it's a lot of fun. I used to visit a local hospital, but since I moved I haven't had time to figure out where to go around here and set something up. So we need to redo our certification, ugh. It's hard for them to pass the separation from mommy part. lol I never took pictures because I didn't think it was appropriate where we were, and with it not being the same people like at a nursing home. But Susan has some other nice ones on her website that she's shared over the years. http://www.apubasenjis.com/TherapyBasenjis.html
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