Certifications

What is a Facility Dog

A Facility Dog is a specially trained Service Dog that works with a volunteer or professional who is trained by a program. The work of a Facility Dog can include visitations or professional therapy in one or more locations. Public access is permitted only when the dog and handler, who is a trained volunteer or professional, is directly working with a client with a disability. 

Facility Dogs participate in Canine-Assisted Therapy (CAT). CAT is a goal-directed intervention designed to promote improvement in physical, social, emotional and/or cognitive functioning of the person(s) involved and in which a specially trained dog-handler team is an integral part of the treatment process.

What is a Facility Service Dog?

A Facility Dog is an Assistance Dog that is trained to work for an organization to assist many adults and/or children within the organization. These dogs, coupled with trained human handlers, enhance the quality of life for the people utilizing the services provided by the organization. They respond to specialty cues at the direction of their handler and must have a calm disposition and the ability to stay polite in different environments and situations.

• Facility dogs can be a tremendous help for organizations in the healthcare, educational and other environments.
• Patients in clinics or children’s hospitals enjoy feeding, grooming, walking and playing with these well-trained dogs as well as performing therapeutic exercises with them. These activities encourage patients and can be a significant help to their rehabilitation.
• The educational system is another valuable setting for a facility dog.  Children love playing and/or cuddling with a skilled and well-behaved dog, and it can help bring comfort to stressful situations in school while facilitating a variety of learning activities.
• · In courthouses, a Facility Dog is a professionally trained Assistance Dog, suitable for providing quiet companionship to vulnerable individuals in legal settings without causing any disruption of the proceedings.

A Facility Dog might be just the right fit for your organization to provide wonderful benefits for your constituents. Here are some tips to help you know if your organization would be a good fit for a facility dog:

• You work with individuals with disabilities or who are recovering from traumatic events, or who may be going through a difficult transition or healing process.
• You are willing to participate in any training required by ColdSprings Healing Paws Foundation
• You can demonstrate that your facility would be able to provide an environment friendly to a Facility Dog.
• You can provide a primary handler, a person who the dog would live with.