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| Therapy & Service Dogs |
| Our Mission |
As breeders, one of our main purposes for breeding the Labradoodle is to give back to the
community. The Labradoodle was originally bred to be a seeing eye dog for an allergy
sufferer, and since then has evolved in it’s purpose. Not only are they used as seeing eye
dogs, but have an extensive history of service from certified therapy dogs, dogs for the
hearing impaired, medical alert dogs, as well as a family pet for allergy sufferers. Two of
our own dogs are Certified Therapy dogs and we expect many of our breeding dogs to
achieve this goal. We will continue this tradition of service and companionship with their
offspring.
| About Certified Therapy Dogs |
There are several different organizations that provide certified therapy dog training such as Delta
Society, AKC “Canine Good Citizen”,"Love on a Leash," and our local "Angels in Whiskers"
organization to name a few. Several communities offer a therapy dog programs and have a certified
tester in their area. These dogs provide an important and needed service in their community by visiting
nursing homes, hospitals, hospice care, schools (Paws to Read Program), special needs children, and
much more. They bring so much joy and comfort to those in need. It has been proven that just petting
a dog can lower your blood pressure and raise your endorphin level (the happy hormone)! The
program requires that the dog and his handler pass rigorous training and temperament tests. Most
testing includes but is not limited to:
* Random Sit, down, with me command.
* Settle: Dog must lay on his or her side with head resting on the floor and stay until released.
* Leave it: Dog must ignore food, toys, and other items on the ground and in hands.
* Get it: Dog must take food on command gently.
* No Jumping or Pawing: even when encouraged to jump.
* Say Hi!: Calmly interacting with strangers on command.
* Calmly accepting Children.
* Calmly accepting people with physical and mental difficulty.
* Calmness around loud noises and chaos.
* Calmness around medical equipment.
* Accepting all types of petting, hugging, examination from others.
* Crowded petting: dog must remain calm with multiple people all approaching and petting.
* Bumped from behind: Dog must remain calm when bumped from behind.
* Calmly enduring supervised separation from the handler.
* Reacting calmly to another dog.
* Walking on a loose lead.
* Appearance, and allowing basic grooming procedures.
All dogs must be healthy, well groomed and have current Rabies vaccination.
| Our Therapy Dogs |
| Colonial Village Glory Glory happy-go-lucky personality makes her perfect for therapy work. She is gentle, sweet, but quite the little comic. This fall we hope Glory will make her mark working with children in the READ (Reading Education Assistance Dogs) program. |
| Tawna Tawna was practically a therapy dog before we ever started training her. She has a natural empathy for those in need and captures your heart from the moment you meet her. One elderly woman Tawna visited kept kissing her on the head and telling her what a "good dog" she was. |