How do you get a dog in the hospital care program?

You need to train your dog for Therapy dog work and then get her certified for visiting.

Your dog needs to know all the basic commands - sit, down, stay, heel - plus the "leave it" command, so it will not eat things off of the floor. You need to train the dog around medical equipment, so it will not be afraid of wheelchairs, walkers, etc.

The dog has to ignore all other dogs and people and respond to your commands.

Once you think you have your dog trained well enough, you can test with the AKC for their Canine Good Citizen certification. If you can pass this one, and then add the "leave it" command with food and work with medical equipment, then you are ready to test with TDI or Delta for your certification. A couple other people posted the link to Therapy Dogs International - I would start with their website. It goes step-by-step on all the commands that your dog needs to know how to perform.

There is much more to having a Therapy dog than just owning a dog that likes to be petted.

I am watching it whilst on here ok its only been on for 10 mins but i will reserve judgement until i have watched the whole thing .Will then post back . Legit ....6 months 2 years old and 8 Edit ..i Agree with you on that one the more i am watching it the more i do not like what i am seeing. And i see i am collecting my TDs again . Edit Defras what they want to do made me laugh so hard i fell off my chair .BSL does not work banning specific breeds does not work .As there will always be people who still breed them ,and now they want to do compulsory micro chipping for all dangerous dogs lol that i have to see. I suppose micro chipping the BYBs and keeping an eye on them may be easier .It will never work for dogs .

I think it would be a good idea for your dog to be a therapy dog. In order to join, you need to pass a TDI Evaluation given by a TDI Evaluator. You can find more information on the site below:

http://www.tdi-dog.org/HowToJoin.aspx

Best of luck...

Julissa - copying & pasting again?

Your dog needs to be evaluated by a licensed TDI evaluator. After that, you and your dog will be accompanied by a licensed evaluator for three visits.

JULISSA: reported by copying and pasting.

http://www.tdi-dog.org/

Here's a website that will give you the information about the Therapy Dog International program.

A Therapy Dog is a dog with an outstanding temperament. A Therapy Dog tolerates other animals. A Therapy Dog wants to visit with people. A Therapy Dog loves children. A Therapy Dog gets along with other dogs. Upon becoming a member, you will receive a training manual titled TDI's Associate Member's Guide and a Handler’s DVD.