Dr. Mark Swaim Answers: Can You Train Your Own Therapy Dog?
Dr. Mark Swaim says that children and adults alike can truly benefit from a therapy dog. After all, therapy dogs offer physical, social, mental, emotional, and cognitive benefits. Therapy dogs—and therapy animals in general—are known to help calm down children and adults alike, lowering blood pressure and reducing physical pain. Here’s what you need to know about training your therapy dog. Therapy Dogs Don’t Fall Under The Same Strict Standards Service dogs must pass many stringent standards to qualify. Because of this, most service dogs must be trained for several years by professionals—and sometimes, some dogs won’t even qualify in the end. Emotional support dogs don’t need to pass the same standards, requiring only a letter of recommendation from a medical professional. When it comes to therapy dogs, Dr. Mark Swaim happily shares that they require nothing at all. Therapy dogs are mostly owner-trained, and they usually spend their whole lives with their owners. The Dogs Sti...