Therapy Dog
A therapy dog is a dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, people with learning difficulties, and stressful situations, such as disaster areas.
Therapy dogs come in all sizes and breeds. The most important
characteristic of a therapy dog is its temperament. A good therapy dog
must be friendly, patient, confident, gentle, and at ease in all
situations. Therapy dogs must enjoy human contact and be content to be
petted and handled, sometimes clumsily.
A therapy dog's primary job is to allow unfamiliar people to make
physical contact with it and to enjoy that contact. Children in
particular enjoy hugging animals; adults usually enjoy simply petting
the dog. The dog might need to be lifted onto, or climb onto, an
individual's lap or bed and sit or lie comfortably there. Many dogs
contribute to the visiting experience by performing small tricks for
their audience or by playing carefully structured games.