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Bella ~ TD Inc Success!

3K views 23 replies 17 participants last post by  GabeBabe 
#1 ·
Bella, as of yesterday, passed her final observed visit and is eligible to be a TD Inc Therapy Dog! Yeah!! Sent in all the paperwork and money. She's going to be great! She turns 2 on Valentine's Day and is truly a sweet, sweet girl! :appl:
 
#5 ·
Hi The Z's ~

Bella had to be tested on criteria such as ability to handle strange and loud noises, rushing people, various equipment, other dogs, people, healing, our ability to work together, her behavior, my behavior, etc, and then pass 3 observed visits. From what I've heard, it's not as hard as Delta, but I don't have direct experience to tell you that for sure.

Some of the types of facilities would include nursing homes, rehab centers, children's reading programs in schools, hospitals, women's/children's shelters.
 
#7 ·
Well done! My Tess was Delta Tested the first time, but I am going to have her retested by TD Inc when my certification expires. I like the fact that they test in the facility where you visit, in my case the hospital. I remember when I had Tess certified and came to the hospital the first time, my first thought was: they didn't prepare me for this...and this....and this...(different floors, machines, a lot of wheel chairs instead of just one, a crowd of people etc etc). I haven't decided on Liza's first certification yet.
 
#10 ·
Congratulations!! Great job!
 
#13 ·
Congratulations Bella and Kimberley! You two will make a great team! Are you affiliating with Heart of Texas Therapy Dogs here?

If you get a *gig* at the Reading to Rover library program near my house I'd love to come observe!

Yogi's trainer is with Delta and last night she gave me a lot of insight on what it takes to be a good team. That is good motivation for me as Yogi and I work on the basics.... this week it will be "Leave It". He's doing great on that so far!
 
#14 ·
Congratulations Bella and Kimberley! You two will make a great team! Are you affiliating with Heart of Texas Therapy Dogs here?

If you get a *gig* at the Reading to Rover library program near my house I'd love to come observe!

Yogi's trainer is with Delta and last night she gave me a lot of insight on what it takes to be a good team. That is good motivation for me as Yogi and I work on the basics.... this week it will be "Leave It". He's doing great on that so far!
Not yet ~ we have to wait to get our official stuff from TD Inc., then I can join a local group. Many of my friends are affiliated with Heart of Texas, so that will probably be my choice too. I'll let you know!! I've heard it can take 2-4 weeks to get it, and we aren't allowed to do any visits during this time.

Great idea to start working on the basics right from the start ~ that's what we did with Bella too.

I started out training (had just started) with my first golden-girl and was planning to go through Delta. Unfortunately, she got really sick and had to have major surgery. She died before we had a chance to get back into it. This journey with Bella has been about honoring Katie as much as it has been a journey for Bella and I together, as a team. Katie was just a beautiful, wonderful golden girl too! Without Bella, I would be lost in a sea of sadness. I'm trying to do all I can to keep Bella as healthy and in tip-top shape as I can, so I have her as long as I can.
 
#18 ·
Therapy Dog Tricks

Congratulations and welcome to TDI.

We love therapy and the people we encounter are wonderful.

We do 'cards' by Vistaprint to pass out to the children and people we encounter.

Have fun!
 

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#19 ·
Cards! That is a great idea Joan!! I will have to look into that for sure! I had a leash custom made with her name on it too, just for therapy work. Thought it might be a nice thing for people to be able to see her name clearly.
 
#22 ·
Kimberly,

Here is a copy of our card. Many people in our chapter do this and it becomes like 'Trading Cards' to the children. They even learn the dog's names and remember them on future visits.

Vistaprints is pretty cheap. I would like to get them for the holidays and pass them out accordingly - Our group usually dresses dogs for the holidays too. The elders REALLY laugh at that.

The cards are also good for the grands that cannot hear, or to put on a table if they are asleep, or when children are still dozy from surgery.

We did a matching collar and leash too - especially fun on visits.
 

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#23 ·
Wonderful, Wonderful Idea!!! Thanks for showing me an example ~ I love it!
 
#24 ·
Kimberly -

Just don't copy mine exactly - as the real words are Therapy Dogs, Inc. Make sure you double check the final copy before printing or you will end up with a mistake like mine. I just need to reprint, but, have ordered too many to toss just now.

:doh:
 
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