by Cheryl
(Desert Hot Springs,CA, US)
New decisions had to be made!
I was becoming very upset and frustrated with the whole program and the several other programs I had started and seemed that every agency seemed to drop the ball and the program always seemed to have all these hoops to jump through and still we could never it done, until this last attempt and the woman that runs their program informed me some interesting points that no one else seemed to bring to my attention….
For one, that a therapy dog really never gets certified. They are registered, that is for insurance purposes, and being that Max is already my service dog that would be total void on that status and he could never go back to service dog status.
Therapy dogs do not have the rights that service dogs have and actually have no rights other than to visit hospitals, nursing homes etc… and being that service dogs are trained for your needs it is like reversing all their training to now be aware of others needs and most service dogs find that stressful and confusing.
So as much as I was looking forward to the therapy dog work and showing others that rotties can be calm and gentle, we had to make choices that would fit both Max as well as my own needs.
Maybe someday when I get another rottie we will try playing those cards again!
To see the original ‘Paying It Forward’ post and some adorable photos of Max CLICK HERE