About Leashes of Love

Leashes of Love Animal Assisted Activities Group is a volunteer group of qualified handlers & their dogs organized to provide comfort & companionship to those in nursing homes, hospitals & correctional institutions.

• Do I have to have prior experience to participate in this group?
  No. We welcome anyone interested in learning more about pet therapy.
  
• Does my dog have to be certified to participate in visits?
  Not at first. If you feel your dog would make a great pet therapy animal, he/she is good around other dogs & you have control of your dog you can participate.
  
  You must fill out an application & talk to one of our trainers before participating.
  We offer evaluations, training & certifications which we highly recommend. We prefer dogs to be certified eventually though.
  There are a number of benefits.
  
• Is there a membership fee?
  Yes there is a membership fee. The fee is $20.00 a year. We use this fee to cover
  the meetup site cost, tabling at events, all our paperwork that we print out, our orientations (food, drinks, etc.), advertising etc. Even though this does not cover even half of what we do, this helps.
  
• What kind of events does this Meetup group have?
  We have pet therapy visits every week, daytime & evenings which are posted on the home page and in the calendar. Every couple months we host a pet therapy information class. We offer obedience training, therapy dog certifications & CGC testing all year around. Tabling at events is something we also do to get our name out there.
  
• I'm not sure if my dog is ready, how can I tell?
  Very simple, your dog must be good around other dogs, great with people(show no aggression), and you must have him in control at all times.
  If you want to pursue certification with your dog ask yourself a couple of things.
  Does he/she have any type of obedience training? If your dog is great around people, friendly etc. but not so controllable on leash you might want to enter into an obedience class first. Once this is done, you may enroll into a pet therapy class, where handlers & their dogs work on specific exercises geared toward
  certification. The therapy dog test is given during the last week.
  Keep in mind you DO NOT have to have any formal obedience training to certify your dog. The obedience class and the pet therapy classes are not prerequisite to certifications. Many dogs can pass the test without any formal training. Some people just work with their dogs on their own and pass the test. If your not sure, have your dog evaluated by a trainer or please feel free to contact us anytime.
  
• What am I required to do as a member?
  If you want to participate in our pet therapy visits you must have your dog evaluated, fill out an application & attend at least 1 orientation.
  This group is about actively supporting the pet therapy community through participation, training & socializing with other members. Our members support one another and improve the value of the group by adding their knowledge, personalities, humor, and insights. In short, we are a community of individuals
  who love our dogs & enjoy socializing with people who feel the same way.
  
  Thanks for taking the time to read our FAQ.
  Leashes of Love