Socialization 36
Touch Desensitization 39
Obedience Training 40
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“There are two means of refuge from the misery of life — music and cats.” — Albert Schweitzer The animals we choose to work with are first and foremost our beloved pets and family members. It is our obligation to insure their happiness, their safety, and their health. This requires provision of proper nurturance, nutrition, socialization, preven- tative as well as reactive health care, recreation and physical exercise, and positive training techniques. In addition, there are areas that require attention if your pet is to be a working animal in AAT. This chapter delineates the training process you need to perform with your therapy pet to prepare it for therapy work.
The training a therapy pet needs to work in AAT requires proper socialization, touch desensitization, basic obedience, and, ideally, some special skills and trick train- ing. It is a common misconception that AAT workshop or course training involves animal training, when in fact the AAT courses and workshops offered are specifically designed to train the human, not the pet. The pet’s training is performed by the pet’s owner. While workshops and courses are useful in explaining what type of training the pet requires, it is up to the owner to train the animal. This is why most AAT work- shops and courses ask participants to not bring their animal to the AAT workshop or training course.
The training of a pet by the pet’s owner for therapy work is really not much different than the training that any pet should receive to be a well-behaved citizen of the community. Even special skills and tricks that are helpful for a therapy pet to know to enhance AAT work are simple commands easily taught by the pet’s owner. AAT pets do not require the highly structured and standardized training regime that service animals require. Training a pet for AAT work is a relatively simple process. But make no mistake, proper training for a pet that is to be a pet practitioner is vitally important.
Socialization
Any pet that is going to go out and work in the community needs to be well mannered. The best way to provide for this is to socialize the pet, that is, to expose it to a variety of stimuli starting early in the pet’s life while it is still ver y young. The pet should meet and be petted by a number of different types of persons varying in age range, ethnicity, ability/disability, and both genders. Include those that the pet is not familiar with, that is, persons other than just family members or friends. The pet should be taken out into the community to meet and greet lots of different folks. A pet that stays at home most of the time is not going to be comfortable meeting people when away from home. The pet should be exposed to a variety of different types of clothing and accessories that people may wear or accompany, for instance, hats, backpacks, briefcases, purses, crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and so forth. The pet should become comfortable with being transported, such as riding in the car. Start by going short distances at first and then gradually extend the time and distance of the trip until the pet is very comfortable with travel.
When I get a new puppy, I spend a few minutes several times a week training my dog to get into the car and go for a ride. If the pup is still too small to get in by itself, then I gently lift it into the car. I use lots of praise and, in the beginning, some very small dog treats. My dogs travel in a crate secured in the back of the car or sometimes
T R A I N I N G A P E T F O R T H E R A P Y W O R K they sit in the back seat wearing a canine seat belt. Rusty never had a problem with
riding in the car and to this day still runs to the car with exuberance when I suggest a trip. However, Dolly experienced really bad carsickness when she was a puppy. So she had to be medicated with prescription medication for motion sickness at least 1 hour before any car trip and hand carried to the car against her will. It was impor- tant that I never got angry with her at these times and that I provided as much lov- ing assurance as possible during her carsickness episodes. I also had to carr y material to clean up an almost certain mess when the medicine did not work as well as it should. At about 6 months of age, Dolly grew out of being carsick but she had a very good memory of it. So I had to continue to hand carry her to the car and give loving reassurance during the trips. By the age of 9 months, Dolly’s behavior began to change and she began following Rusty to the car of her own free will, albeit with- out his enthusiasm. Her behavior suggested that she was feeling, “Okay, I want to go on a trip with Rusty and my mom, but I am not really excited about having to go in a moving vehicle.” Finally, at 11 months of age Dolly began happily trotting to the car behind Rusty when I suggested a trip.
If you have more than one pet, such as two dogs, practice taking the dogs out separately at times so the dogs become comfortable spending time away from one another. I evaluated a handler who was shocked to see her normally confident, friendly, and outgoing Labrador Retriever act ver y shy and afraid during the eval- uation. The dog was so frightened when just walking around the evaluation room beforehand that I chose not to begin the formal evaluation test. In a discussion with the handler, it was revealed that this was the first time this dog had ever gone any- where without the family’s other Labrador Retriever. The dog showed confidence and friendliness when out and about in the community with the family’s other dog, but without the company of his familiar companion, this dog was ver y frightened. I recommended the handler spend time taking each dog out separately sometimes so the dogs could become comfortable with being apart from one another, and then when she thought he was ready, she could bring the dog for another evaluation.
The potential pet practitioner should be exposed to different types of places with a variety of activity and noises. Pet stores, hardware stores, and garden stores usually allow you to bring your pet inside. In the pet store, walk by the birdcages and aquariums and by any other animals so you can expose the pet to a variety of species. Make sure your pet does not upset the pet store stock however. In a hard- ware store and nursery, be careful not to allow the pet to consume any poisonous or hazardous material. Walk the pet around large moving equipment and loud noises, such as loud saws cutting lumber and construction equipment, while keeping a safe distance.
When Rusty was less than a year old, we would go walking in a city park that was being relandscaped by large, noisy bulldozers and big hauling trucks. I walked Rusty in the safe area of the park but only about 15 yards from the equipment. I watched him carefully to make sure he was not being stressed out by the loud noises. If he had been, I would have done the training at a further distance to start and gradually moved in closer as his comfort level allowed. I also walked Rusty several
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to provide animal assisted counseling ser vices in response to a crisis, disaster, or other emergency situation.
It is important for a dog to be comfortable around other dogs. Give your puppy many opportunities to play with other friendly dogs of various sizes in the neighbor- hood or in a dog park to allow for adequate social interaction with other dogs. Be careful that your puppy has the necessar y vaccinations before exposing them to unfamiliar dogs. It is also important that a dog be exposed at an early age to other types of animals such as cats, horses, and farm animals. Both Rusty and Dolly are comfortable around cats since they were raised around two playful cats at home. I was fortunate that this transferred to their behavior of showing only a polite, casual interest toward cats they see away from home or on therapy visits.
When Dolly was 6 months old, I received permission to take her with me to an equine therapy center where I occasionally volunteer. I made special trips out there just for the purpose of exposing her a little at a time. The first visit to the ranch was only 15 minutes long so as to not overstress Dolly. I started with a large, well trained, friendly, and calm horse that was in a small corral. I kept Dolly on a leash and we stayed outside of the corral. We started about 25 feet away, and we approached the corralled horse gradually until Dolly began to show some visible signs of discom- fort, such as slowed walking, hesitation, looking away from the horse or back at me, growling, and barking. I would pet and reassure Dolly and then we would casually walk away to a distance where she acted more comfortable. We gradually approached the horse in the same way two more times and then moved on. We used the same technique with the other ranch critters: miniature horses, goats, sheep, a donkey, a mule, pigs, rabbits, chickens, and ducks. The next visit, I followed the same regime but spent a little more time with each animal. Each time we visited the ranch critters, Dolly showed fewer signs of discomfort and we could walk closer to the animal. By the fourth visit, Dolly could be led within only a few feet of each of the ranch critters with no visible signs of discomfor t and showing no more than casual interest in each. Dolly is a small dog of only 22 pounds, and so I watch her carefully when she goes to the ranch with me so as to prevent injur y to her. She is ver y comfortable with the horses and even touches noses with them. Dolly really enjoys her visits to the ranch, and I enjoy having her out there with me. The teens that receive therapy services at the ranch nicknamed her “Daring Dolly” because of her fearless nature around the large horses. We hear the occasional comment from the kids that are ini- tially afraid to get near the horses, “If Dolly can do it, then I can,” followed by their moving over close to pet the horse. During the group process portion of the therapy at the horse ranch, an adolescent seems to be comforted when they hold and pet Dolly while sharing feelings. I am glad Dolly has been socialized to go just about anywhere with me because her therapeutic skills come in very handy for a variety of AAT settings. Dolly is a very versatile therapy dog, getting along with every person and ever y creature she meets, with the exception of squirrels, which she chases from tree to tree in our backyard.
It is important to socialize a therapy animal in the setting in which the animal is going to work. Several practice sessions of therapy with various volunteers of different ages playing the role of a client with you working as a therapist and your pet as a pet practitioner in the actual therapy room may be ver y helpful in assimi- lating the pet into the therapeutic environment. The volunteers who pretend to be a client for you should be relatively unknown to the therapy animal. With this prac- tice, the therapy session experience becomes familiar and comfortable to the pet.
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The more familiar a pet is with a particular atmosphere and routine, the more com- fortable it will be in that situation while working.