Relationship Development/ Therapy Animal Skills Class
IN PERSOn OnLine Class Series
The Relationship Development/Therapy Animal Skills Class is a foundational class for handlers and animals who are new to the field of Animal-Assisted Activities and Therapy, and for experienced therapy animal handlers who are introducing a new animal to this field. The class sets you, the handler, and your animal teammate up for success. This class meets 6 times, for 1.5 hours each meeting.
Please note:
It is up to the handler to set aside time to assimilate and practice the information provided in each class. Doing so gives you the opportunity to better understand your animal, deepen your relationship, and develop into a therapy team, if that is of interest to both of you.
People and their animals attend the class with a clearly loving relationship. This class helps you, the handler, understand how to be a proactive and supportive teammate so that you and your animal are successful in your lives together and in therapy work. At the conclusion of this class, my hope is that you will have a deeper understanding of your animal, and your relationship will be stronger.
Our animals give their best, when asked to interact with unfamiliar people or other animals. Sometimes that interaction goes very poorly, and sometimes it works out okay. But, success is more than tolerance of interactions, for you or for your animal. True success happens when both the animal and handler are well-suited for the interaction. It is your responsibility to determine the suitability of the interaction before it occurs, and, if necessary, to decline it gracefully and clearly. Don’t know how to do this? You will by the end of this class.
For Reading with Rover teams interested in obtaining the medical badge, this class fulfills the requirement.
For handlers interested in becoming registered with Reading with Rover, the completion of this class is a requirement.
For handlers interested in becoming registered with other therapy team organizations, this serves as a preparation class.
In addition to this class, your responsibility is to:
Understand and complete the onboarding requirements of the therapy team organization you choose
Prepare yourself and your animal to meet the expectations of the therapy team organization’s evaluation
Know your animal’s behavioral and emotional strengths and weaknesses and anticipate their needs
Always demonstrate proactive and supportive handling of your animal throughout this class, your therapy team evaluation, and in your future therapy team visits.
Who should attend?
People wanting to better understand their animal
People wanting a more meaningful relationship in every day life with their animal
Students in need of community service hours for school projects - training to become a therapy team
Young people working on bar or bat mitzvah projects - training to become a therapy team
College students wanting to help de-stress their fellow students with their registered therapy animal
Volunteers interested in participating in reading programs with their registered therapy animal
Volunteers wanting to visit patients in medical facilities with their registered therapy animal
Volunteers wanting to visit travelers and staff at airports with their registered therapy animal
Professionals wanting to work with their animal teammate in their practice
Some of the lessons covered in this class:
Setting boundaries with people and their animals, and with exuberant people wanting to interact with your animal
Establishing respect in your relationship with your animal
Recognizing your animal's stress signs and knowing what to do about them
Grounding yourself and being in the moment with your animal
Handling your animal
Developing a “visiting” mindset
Visiting with intention
Enhancing your interactions by learning a few tricks
Learning about some of the different visiting populations and environments – role play scenarios
Familiarizing you and your animal around health care equipment
Prerequisite: To participate in these classes, your animal must be safe to be around unfamiliar people and animals.
Only registered participants and their animals will be allowed in the training building during the class.
Participants will be required to complete a weekly Health Attestation, and wear a proper mask covering nose and mouth during class.
2024 In person 6-class series, 1.5 hours each class
Dates: June 20, 27, July 11, 18, 25, Aug. 1 Deadline for Class Registration: June 17, 5:00 pm
Time: 10-11:30 am
Class Cost: $275.00
Included with this fee:
Book "Teaming with your Therapy Dog" by Ann R. Howie, LICSW, ACSW
$250.00 per additional handler willing to share resource materials with initial handler in same class.
Payment: via Venmo: Healing_Paws_Inc or check: Healing Paws 7333 227th St. SE Woodinville, WA 98072
Class Location: Woodinville, WA - driving directions will be sent prior to the first class
To obtain a registration form, or if you have questions, please contact Christi at cwdudzik@healingpaws.com.
For more information, CLICK HERE
Click here if you would like to read testimonials from past students.
enhancing the Therapy Team Experience
Enhancing the Therapy Team Experience is about intentional visiting. It is for those who just started visiting as a badged therapy team, and for those who have been visiting for awhile.
Pay attention, people, our animals are talking. Well, they aren’t using words, but they certainly are communicating with us. Are we listening? Are we honoring their messages? How do we set our animals up for success? This training, spread over 2 days, is meant to refresh, refocus, and inspire the handler for continued work with their therapy animal.
This training is for those who want to:
1 better understand their animal’s messages
2. know what to do with that information
3. work on their handling skills
4. make their therapy team visits more meaningful than ever before
Prerequisites: To participate in this workshop, you and your animal must be a badged therapy team. And, as always, your animal must be safe around unfamiliar people and animals.
Date: Day 1, June 8, Handler and their animal - reading your animal, handling skills, boundary setting
Date: Day 2, June 9, Handler and their animal - practicing visiting scenarios
Times both days: 10 am - noon
Workshop costs: $75.00 for Day 1, only, payment via check or Venmo
Workshop costs: $145.00 for both Days 1 and 2, payment via check or Venmo
Class Location: Woodinville, WA - driving directions will be sent prior to the first class
To obtain a registration form or if you have questions, please contact Christi at cwdudzik@healingpaws.com.
For more information, CLICK HERE
Click here if you would like to read testimonials from past students.