Group of women with dogs standing under a large canopy in a park with buildings and trees in the background.

Together let’s TRAIN your great dog to be a Therapy Dog!

Over the course of our exciting ten-week Therapy Dog program you and your dog will learn the multitude of safety measures along with general obedience that you will use on real visits. Our training curriculum is full of planned exercises along with experiences and exposure so handlers and their dogs can achieve proficiency with ease.

Our goal is that you and your dog become a successful dynamic team!

OUR TRAINING CURRICULUM

During the course of our unique program we will train you for AND test for the CGC, CGC-A and CGCU. Here is a small sample of what we will cover!

Logo for Canine Good Citizen featuring a person and dog, with text 'A Canine Good Citizen' around the image

  • Accepts friendly strangers and dogs

  • Walks through crowd without engagement

  • Sit/Down/Stay for specific times

  • Comes when called

  • Calmly accepts separation from owner

AKC Community Canna logo featuring a person walking a dog in front of a house with trees.

  • Must Pass CGC First

  • Loose lead walking under full control

  • Walks through crowd on loose lead

  • Distance commands i.e., stay, come and sit from 20 feet

  • “Leave It” on command

Logo of AKC Urban Corgi showing a person walking a corgi dog with a city skyline in the background, surrounded by a yellow circular border with blue text.

  • Must Pass CGC First

  • Walks calmly through busy streets

  • Exits and enters doorways under control

  • Behaves in public buildings

  • Ignores food on street

Therapy Dog and Handler Team Placement

Once you successfully achieved the three AKC Good Citizen++ levels and attend the five (5) required supervised group visits, you will receive your official certificate and be credentialed as a Certified Therapy Dog Team. You may also submit your visits for official Therapy Dog Titles! PLUS we arrange several opportunities per month for you and your dog to visit those who need a smile.

Logo for AKC Therapy Dog, with a red heart and a white paw print in the center, encircled by the text 'AKC Therapy Dog' and 'American Kennel Club, Founded 1884'.

Your Therapy Dog journey starts with an email

Contact us today to learn more about how we are giving back to the community and sharing our dogs with the world!

A woman with curly red hair hugging a small white and brown puppy.

Your Therapy Dog journey starts with an email

Contact us today to learn more about how we are giving back to the community and sharing our dogs with the world!

A woman cuddling a small white and brown puppy, holding it close to her chest.

 FAQs

  • You know your dog best! If your dog loves people, is good around other dogs and enjoys the company of others than your dog might be the perfect candidate for Therapy Dog work.

    The requirements to join our cohorts are few but important:

    • Dog must be free of aggression towards people and other dogs

    • Is socially confident and outgoing (not shy and timid)

    • Enjoys learning, training and working

    • Has a good relationship with the owner

    • Is tolerant and patient to being touched and handled.

  • We accept well mannered dogs as young as 9 months into our program.

  • Yes! Our program is built upon the AKC standards of good obedience. After our training program you and your dog will be ready to pass all three tests.

  • Once you and your dog are a certified team, you will be welcomed into a variety of places such as libraries, nursing homes and hospitals. We will introduce you to many facilities that we are affiliated with throughout the Boston area. Visitation opportunities are continually expanding and, upon certification, you will continuously receive emails with existing visitation opportunities.

  • Every Great Dog and CTD provide liability and accident insurance to all who pass our program. This insurance only covers only CTD sanctioned and pre authorized visits that are open to the entire group. No unsanctioned, private or commercial use of the dog is covered. These may include schools, library reading programs, adult and children’s hospitals, the courthouses, airports, rehab and assisted living facilities, hospice, the VA and more.

  • The first step is to send us an email about you and your dog! We will schedule a time to talk about our next steps.

  • Every Great Dog is proud to be partnering with Florida based Certified Therapy Dog, Inc to offer therapy dog training to people and their dogs in the Boston area. Certified Therapy Dog, Inc. is an AKC Recommended, Non-Profit group of caring people dedicated to training and volunteering with their Certified Therapy Dog.

  • Our training program includes:

    10 weeks of groups classes

    5 supervised visits to approved locations

    Small groups of no more than 6 teams per cohort

    A one hour private session with trainer

    First year of Insurance covered

    Bandana for your dog

    Badge for handler

    Ever growing list of places you and your dog can visit updated monthly

    A caring and supportive community of other Therapy Dog handlers