The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Expert offers dog training classes
By Sheila Pursglove, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: January 17, 2008
Dogs and their owners can receive expert training when Michelle McCarthy, owner of K9 Home Schooling, starts teaching classes at Saline Community Education later this month.
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McCarthy, a certified therapy animal consultant, training and behavior consultant and a tester for Therapy Dogs Inc., has offered classes in Saline for almost three years. She will offer "Dog Training Fundamentals I," followed by part II in April and "Dog Training: Pup Start."
"Dog Training: Therapy Dog Prep School" will start in April.
"Saline is unique in that it's the only location that I offer my Therapy Dog Prep School," McCarthy said. "I am one of the few trainers -- possibly the only one -- in Michigan that offers such a program. It's a specialty program I developed to help people train and prepare their dogs for a career in visiting pet therapy."
Once owners and their dogs have completed a foundation class with McCarthy, they can advance to Therapy Dog Prep School.
"To date, 12 students have now completed formal testing and are visiting around Washtenaw County," she said. "Some people have even taken TD Prep School twice because they enjoyed it so much.
"For those who complete TD Prep, they are eligible to enroll in my TD Socialization Outings at Briarwood Mall. We just had one before Christmas and it was great fun for everyone."
McCarthy works with Saline Community Education and teaches at the Woodland Elementary School gym.
"I could not successfully teach this program without their cooperation," she said.
McCarthy's black Labrador, Leo, is well known at the Chelsea District Library as Leo the Library Dog, helping children in the Reading Education Assistance Dogs program. Leo also provides comfort, support and rehabilitation to patients in the Paws-itive Comfort Therapy Dog program at Chelsea Community Hospital.
McCarthy originally approached the hospital's recreational therapist, Jan Collins Shamraj, a couple of years ago to ask if she could bring Leo for visits, explaining that he was not only a therapy dog, but trained to work in a rehab environment with patients.
"There are many types of therapy dogs, some are sweet and affectionate and bring comfort to people, others come and perform fun tricks and entertain patients," McCarthy said.
"Rehab dogs like Leo have a high level of training and can participate in select physical and occupational therapy sessions."
McCarthy offered to help start a therapy dog program. Shamraj serves as program coordinator. McCarthy screens dogs and owners and, if appropriate, does official Therapy Dogs Inc. testing and then Shamraj meets the team to determine if they are a good fit for the program.
Therapy dogs must be at least 2 years old and have above-average obedience training, as well as passing three tests required by Therapy Dogs Inc., a company that provides test standards and insurance for dogs -- each of which carries a $3 million liability policy.
When a dog owner is interested in the program, McCarthy meets with them and evaluates their pet. Having a therapy dog is a big responsibility and too many people take it lightly, she says.
"It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done. I feel blessed to be able to do this work with my wonderful Leo, but it required years of training."
If both canine and human pass muster, formal Therapy Dogs Inc. testing be-gins. McCarthy typically uses Chelsea hospital or a local nursing home. The dog gets comfortable in the new environment and then starts meeting and greeting people.
McCarthy increases the challenges in two future tests -- moving wheelchairs and walkers around, and dropping something with a loud crash to see how the dog reacts.
On average, one in 10 dogs pass the test to certify as a therapy dog. Behaviors that make a dog unsuitable include jumping up on people, licking and poor obedience skills. Dogs must be comfortable, confident and able to handle the job.
"In therapy dog work, you need to know that when you give your dog a command, they will follow it immediately without the need for harsh handling," McCarthy said.
Balloon volleyball is a big favorite with both Leo and patients who need to work on upper body movement. The patient hits the balloon into the air to Leo, and he knocks it back into the air toward the patient.
"It's always a lot of fun and motivates patients to want to participate," McCarthy said.
Patients who need to exercise their legs kick a ball, and Leo will roll it back on command to them. He retrieves things on command, pushes and pulls, or whatever is required. McCarthy uses Leo's talents and incorporates them into a patient's program.
Leo also visits patients on the Head Pain Unit to meet a group or to visit someone's room and cuddle in bed with them, if asked. Many patients say they were distracted from pain after Leo cuddled in bed with them, McCarthy says. She and Leo have since been joined by other teams at Chelsea hospital, and the therapy dog program is a huge success with both patients and staff.
McCarthy hopes to see the program expand, and to bring community awareness to encourage others to train their dogs for this type of volunteer work.
"It takes approximately two years to raise and train a therapy dog and we would like to help educate others how to start the process," she said.
"Leo and I love our time at CCH. When we round the corner toward the Head Pain Unit, we always hear someone shout out, 'Leo is here.' And, no kidding, patients will come running out of their rooms to see him."
McCarthy also volunteers as a puppy raiser and training consultant for Service Dogs of Virginia, an organization that raises, trains and places dogs to assist people with disabilities. Last April, Polaris, a yellow Labrador Retriever, joined the family.
McCarthy was very excited to start this Michigan-based program for Service Dogs of Virginia, and her hope is to recruit a few families to become puppy raisers, as well as encourage people to make donations to Service Dogs of Virginia to support the program.
It takes approximately $18,000 to raise and train a service dog over two to three years, and donations make it possible to place the dogs as no cost to the recipient.
Puppy raisers take in a service dog candidate at the age of 8 weeks, and care for the dog for about 18 months, when the dog returns to Virginia for advanced training.
Service Dogs of Virginia pays for veterinary care, equipment, training and food, while puppy raisers pay for toys, treats and any miscellaneous expenses.
During the 18 months a puppy is in residence, puppy raisers take care of house training, socialization, teaching good manners and attending a once-weekly Service Dogs of Virginia training class.
Puppy raisers also serve as Service Dogs of Virginia ambassadors in their local community. Once housebroken, the puppies may be taken to work, on vacation, into restaurants and movies. Unlike a household pet, a service dog in training has legal access to public facilities, restaurants, planes, trains, hotels and the like.
Service Dogs of Virginia uses positive reinforcement/clicker training methods, that are highly effective and fun for both human and dog, McCarthy says.
McCarthy, her husband and three children enjoy raising these dogs so much that they recently welcomed another service dog in training, Banjo. The 6-month-old Labrador will stay with the family until April, when he and Polar will return to Charlottesville, Va., to compete their final phase of training and placement.
Sheila Pursglove is a freelance writer. She can be reached at bingley51@yahoo.com.
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