Bum-Puzzled) P.N.A.V. (Pet Owned Animal Vice) Pet Therapy: Helps The Owner's Heart, The Owner's Mind, and The Owner's Soul To Heal Together. Pet Therapy is a Unique Treatment that uses the healing power of pets (dogs, cats and rabbits), as a new powerful tool to help improve a patient's quality of life, both physically and emotionally. Therapeutic Animals: Therapy Animals: Therapy Dogs: Certified (American Kennel Club), non-profit, volunteer programs, provide an excellent means to enhance communication and help lower anxiety levels for humans and animals alike. Certified (American Kennel Club), non-profit, volunteer programs, provide an excellent means to enhance communication and help lower anxiety levels for humans and animals alike. Service Dogs: Dogs trained to assist individuals with developmental disabilities or physical impairments (including hearing and seeing impaired, cerebral palsy and other neurological impairments, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, and stroke). Dogs trained to assist individuals with developmental disabilities or physical impairments (including hearing and seeing impaired, cerebral palsy and other neurological impairments, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, and stroke). Therapy Horses: Riding horses for individuals with physical limitations or disabilities (including amputees). Riding horses for individuals with physical limitations or disabilities (including amputees). Therapy Ponies: Assist youngsters who have been abused, neglected or traumatized. Assistance to older adults, developmentally challenged individuals and students with ADD/ADHD. Assist youngsters who have been abused, neglected or traumatized. Assistance to older adults, developmentally challenged individuals and students with ADD/ADHD. Therapy Anecdotal Support Animals: The emotional support of small animals (e.g. rabbits, hamsters, snakes, guinea pigs, ducks, chickens) for those with health conditions. The emotional support of small animals (e.g. rabbits, hamsters, snakes, guinea pigs, ducks, chickens) for those with health conditions. Therapy Horse Facilitators: Facilitate riding programs for those with physical or cognitive disabilities. Facilitate riding programs for those with physical or cognitive disabilities. Therapeutic Riding: Provide children and adults with physical disabilities access to a therapeutic and social outlet and provide a means for physical and emotional growth. Provide children and adults with physical disabilities access to a therapeutic and social outlet and provide a means for physical and emotional growth. Therapy Horses for Youth: Assist teenagers with ADHD, Autism, anxiety, sensory integration, mood disorders and learning disabilities. (NOTE: You can see a list of many of these programs here) If you've come to my site by searching for these terms, consider this: It is much easier to get a service dog, therapy dog, or other pet trained for you than it is to get a doctor to tell you if you can. There are two ways this could happen: you go to the veterinarian for a medical check-up and they say "I'm sorry, you are just too neurotic and anxious to care for a pet." OR The veterinarian visits your home, sits down, tells you that your pet has health problems, you hear how serious they are, and you say "I'm sorry. I love my pets too much to part with them." You see, I am not making light of this issue here; it's just that as far as I can tell, most doctors don't like to tell their patients that they cannot have the animal. Often there's a way around this issue and they may be able to make some recommendations that you might want to hear about. After all, you would be best to have a veterinarian give you good information if you should have a medical problem. Or they can call and suggest that you talk with a local pet training organization. I've known of a dog who was taken to the vet and within a day or two the vet told the owner to give the dog back or that it would have to be put to sleep. This was not only terribly upsetting to the dog's owner, but it had to hurt the veterinarian's feelings as well. My point is that sometimes the truth is too hard to say and sometimes there is a way around it. The veterinarian is human too and they make mistakes too. If you need to discuss these kinds of issues with your veterinarian, I suggest writing down your feelings and taking some time to digest it, and then calmly go and discuss the issues with your vet in private. One way to get around some of these hurdles: Make sure you are on the right page and if you are not able to trust your doctor or they say there is no way they can do this, consider finding a different doctor who will help you in your efforts. After all, I've seen dogs who have been euthanized because their human owners thought the alternative was just too hard to handle. The Best Way to Go About Purchasing a Service Animal Service dogs are no different than most other dogs: they have personalities, likes and dislikes, and personal quirks and differences. I don't know if there's a good way to tell a dog's personality without living with them, but the way I see it is that if you are looking for a service dog or therapy dog, you'd like to meet the dog first in an environment where he is completely comfortable with you. That way you can judge his character, his personality, his likes and dislikes, and whether or not you would get along well with him. If you are getting a dog from a program, the head trainer at that facility would be a good person to ask about the personality and temperament of the dog in question. The same goes for an owner who's dog you might want to acquire from one of these kinds of programs. If you're looking for a specific type of dog, such as a Rottweiler, Labrador retriever, Newfoundland, Chihuahua, German Shepherd, or any other type of dog, take the dog you're looking for to a vet to have a check-up. Also, keep in mind that some dogs are easier to train for a service role than others. Some people have a hard time understanding my point here. Let me give you an example: I've trained both dogs and humans for several years now. I know that if I trained any dog, I'd find a way to get my work done, but you would be hard pressed to find a therapy dog that would not have several issues that would prevent it from being able to do a task to the level I would like to see. For example, with regard to service dogs, the dog who has a tendency to put their nose in the air, or has a tendency to put their paws on their owner's legs and not get off when asked would be an issue because in order to be a good service dog, a dog needs to be able to do two things: they need to understand the task, and they need to be able to stay off of the person's lap, lap being the only level of the ground that is considered "acceptable" under the rules of the service dogs program. Because I've seen many dogs do service tasks, I know there are plenty of dogs that could do this, but would not because they are too anxious, are too afraid, or are too nervous, so they feel more comfortable putting their feet and noses on your lap than in front of your face. I know people who can actually teach a dog to heel on a leash or something like this, but I have yet to meet a dog that can be a service dog. I think we can agree that our dogs are our companions and they want to be in our lap. Service dogs are trained to not put their heads on your lap and dogs with all types of problems are not service dogs. So do a little research before you think you can just walk into a place and purchase a dog. Sometimes having a dog that has been trained to be a service animal can be the best kind of therapy. But remember, they can be trained to be the best therapy dog out there, but there are also dogs that have been labeled as service dogs who should not have been and are not that great at therapy. In fact, most dogs who need to wear the vest simply because they're not well behaved or make them nervous, but they wouldn't be right for you if your aim is to provide therapy, they will actually be therapeutic for the owner and not for you. (NOTE: In the following chart I have a lot of issues that may be very easy to change with your dog, but often in the real world of your doctor's office, this is not the case.) Avoid the following problems: (1) Dogs who nip too much or bark too much, or dogs who are fearful. (2) Dogs that are easily distracted. Dogs that are easily distracted might be considered for a therapy dog, but they should not be trained to be service dogs. (3) Dogs who are too small or too large. You wouldn't want a big dog that has the tendency to jump on you or a small dog that has the tendency to nip all the time. (4) Dogs that aren't right for you. So if the dog you are eyeing has a tendency