Are you a recently registered therapy team? Or have you been registered for a while, but you would like prepare for new kinds of therapy visits that may pose particular challenges and stressors for you and your dog? Or are you looking to prepare for a new visit location or style and you want to bolster your confidence? Then join us for one or both of these seminar-style workshops focused on preparing for therapy dog visits in challenging but meaningful locations.

Your instructors for these workshops are Certified Professional Dog Trainers and experienced therapy dog handlers. We have developed real-world scenarios drawn from long-term experience making therapy visits in a wide variety of environments. We'll role-play through elements of these scenarios, just like the Pet Partners evaluation does.

Come learn all of the things that we never anticipated when we started making real-world therapy visits. We will discuss and practice some of the weirdest, least expected, and most stressful things that have happened to our visiting teams, all tailored to participants' skill level and future plans.

While these workshops are aimed at teams who have already passed the Pet Partners or TDI evaluation, they would also be appropriate for teams who have taken the Skills Practice Scenarios class and are looking for more training and practice before the evaluation. We also welcome teams preparing for recertification or looking to move from the "predictable" to the "complex" rating. As the scenarios will generally be more challenging than those in the Skills Practice Scenarios class, this workshop would not be appropriate for handlers and dogs who are early in their journey toward becoming a therapy team.

Medical Environments Workshop, 10AM-12PM

Discussion, scenarios, roleplaying, and practice of skills relevant to nursing homes, hospices, and hospitals, like positioning your dog for patients confined to beds, navigating tight spaces and medical equipment, conversing with patients with altered mental states, and being your dog's advocate while still prioritizing a patient's needs, when and when not to use food rewards, among others.

Educational Environments Workshop, 12:30PM-2:30PM

Discussion, scenarios, roleplaying, and practice of skills relevant to schools, colleges, libraries, and reading programs, like navigating tight spaces, handling a crowd, helping children learn to interact appropriately with your dog, helping your dog be patient while a child reads, staying calm while in close proximity to other therapy dogs, when and when not to use food rewards, among others.

$55.00/each two-hour workshop
These workshops can be taken individually or together. Take both for $100 and save $10!

To register, call Paws 'N Effect at (203) 281-7150 or e-mail sandy.pawsneffect@gmail.com.