Pet VIP Therapy & Visitation

Our Pet VIP therapy teams can practice Animal Assisted Activities (AAA), Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), Animal Assisted Education (AAE) and Animal Assisted Psychotherapy (AAP).

We can help you determine which program is right for you and your pet.

• AAA is a general meet-and-greet with the public.
• In AAT, your animal assists a physical/occupational therapist in meeting goals that are important to a patient’s recovery.
• AAE is goal-directed intervention to promote improvement in cognitive functioning of the person(s) involved where a specially trained pet-handler team is an integral part of the educational process.
• In AAP, a mental health professional incorporates an animal into their work with a client. The professional develops interventions tailored to the client’s treatment goals.

We are proud to certify dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, equines, minis, donkeys, pot belly pigs, llamas/alpacas, goats and some small animals (rats, guinea pigs). The most common animals that we certify are dogs.

Every animal is unique. To determine fit, we consider how each animal is incorporated into AAA/T, the relationship between the handler and animal, and the animal’s welfare.

Yes. Service dogs are individually trained to perform tasks to assist their disabled handler. As a team, service dogs and their handlers work to achieve safety and accessibility for the handler. 

Emotional support animals provide psychological and emotional support to their owners.

Unfortunately, we cannot certify service dogs as therapy dogs. The two roles have contradicting goals: service dogs are trained to focus on their handler's needs and therapy dogs are trained to focus on the needs of others. This can be very confusing for the dog.

If you require assistance by a Service Dog, we are unable to certify your Service Dog as a Therapy Dog (dual purpose). We do not allow Service Dogs to work in our programs while assisting the handler’s individual needs; this can be very confusing for the dog. A certified therapy dog is not a Service Dog; therefore, neither the dog nor handler has the same rights as a service dog team. Therapy Dogs are not recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and do not have public access rights.

Testing is different for each species, but since dogs are the most commonly evaluated, CLICK HERE to check out the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen® (CGC) Program and get an idea what an evaluation might be like.

Most therapy animal evaluations are similar to, or an extension of, the CGC test designed for dogs. This process is also explained in our certification packet.

To sum it up, we test the animal on their reaction to a group of strangers (our volunteers), a neutral dog, medical equipment (wheel chair, walker, cane) and loud noises. We test canines for their ability to do basic commands reliably. Other smaller animals may be passed around to sit on laps or be held.

Not all animals pass the evaluation, even obedient and even-tempered animals.

You may sign up for another evaluation if the evaluator invites you back to test. If the evaluator advises you to work on a certain behavior or command, please follow through to improve your odds of passing the next evaluation.

However, some pets and/or handlers may not be good candidates for therapy animal work. If we believe this is the case, we will always explain why.

Animals with disabilities are welcome in the program, as long as a veterinarian has determined that the animal can participate safely and comfortably.

Persons with a disability are welcome in the program and will not be required to specify their disability. If you require accommodations for testing, please discuss this with the evaluator prior to evaluation day.

Yes. Once you are officially certified as a volunteer, you will be covered under our one million dollar liability insurance. If you plan on working with your animal in a setting such as AAT or AAP, it is recommended that you also have your own insurance (such as homeowners or business). We can discuss this further in training.