Volunteer Your Pet Dog
Families can volunteer their dogs to take part in the Paws and Boots for for Good program, where youth help train carefully screened dogs from local families to become therapy dogs.
After the youth course, pet parents continue training with their dogs and take part in therapy visits that bring comfort, connection, and reading support to the community. This unique program allows youth, dogs, and families to work together to build confidence, develop skills, and do good in the community.
What Are Pet Paws?
Pet Paws are dogs that are carefully screened to ensure they are suitable for working with youth and for future therapy visits. During the Youth Therapy Dog Training course, youth learn hands-on training skills while the dogs receive regular practice, stimulation, and socialization in a structured environment.
After the youth course is completed, the pet parent and their “Pet Paw” continue in the program, receiving additional training to prepare them to work together during therapy visits in the community.
Benefits For The Dogs
Dogs in the program benefit from:
- Regular training and mental stimulation
- Increased focus and confidence
- Positive social experiences
- The opportunity to become therapy dogs
Many dogs grow in confidence alongside their youth trainers and develop the calm, reliable behaviour needed for therapy visits.
After The Youth Course
After the youth training course is completed, pet parents continue the program through a series of weekly training sessions where they learn how to work with their dogs during therapy visits.
This part of the program includes approximately 10 hours of instruction over 10 weeks and includes practice visits in real community settings. Pet parents are taught to apply the same training methods the dogs learned during the youth course, helping to ensure consistency and reliability.
Following these group practices, pet parents and their dogs take part in supervised therapy visits that may include:
- Reading support programs for children
- School visits
- Library programs
- Senior and long-term care visits
- Community events
This continued training allows the work started during the youth course to develop into therapy dog visits that do good in the community.
Why Families Join
Families join the program to:
- Help youth learn valuable life skills
- Give their dog a meaningful role
- Learn how to safely and effectively work with their dog as a therapy team
- Take part in therapy visits in the community
- Be part of a positive, supportive program
Together, youth, dogs, and pet parents help create confidence for youth, purpose for dogs, and good for the community.
By volunteering your dog, you become part of a program that builds confidence for youth, purpose for dogs, and good for the community.
