Any experience with Boxers as Therapy Dogs?

[Brunopierock]

I've been thinking about this for a long time, and although I'm not sure yet if anyone in my crew has the right temperment for it, I am very interested in trying to do therapy work with one of my Boxers.

My concerns are mostly about their signature (and beloved) high energy. They all love people and they do well with other dogs (since they go to work with me at the doggy daycare), but I don't know how they'd do in a hospice/hospital-type environment. They have had limited exposure to children because I don't have any, but I'm a little afraid that they might be too rough with them. I don't know anyone that would let me use their kid as a guinea pig to find out for sure.

Does anyone have experience with doing therapy work with Boxers? I saw a couple of threads from several years ago that sounded inspiring. Is anyone doing it currently or recently?

 

[whiskers]

Take a class! Juno's trainer encouraged me to do therapy work with Juno, but despite her awesome personality in training classes, in real life she's anxious and shy in unfamiliar settings so I knew she wouldn't be a good fit for it. There are different things you can do though, outside of the typical hospital setting... one of the things our trainer thought Juno would be good at, would be programs with autistic children where they get to interact with and work on doing training with the dogs. In order to do that you need a dog that's good with children and can handle sudden movements or behavior changes. I thought it sounded like a really awesome thing to try, but I know Juno is not the right dog for it.

Basically you need a social, obedient dog... but I would try to find a therapy dog class to take, you might need prerequisites though (I know at our facility, you need to have taken level 2 obedience OR have passed the CGC test). They should do exercises though that would simulate what you'd come across doing therapy work, so that'd give you some practice and an idea of how your dogs would do at it.

 

[LILYLARUE]

It's really surprising to see just how many arenas of therapy there are. I just learned that dogs make awesome reading partners for kids who may have reading challenges. The kids aren't embarrassed or ashamed when practicing their reading skills when they are reading to a dog. It helps the kids build confidence reading aloud and gives them comfort when doing so. If you have a dog that will lay quietly, this would be a great area to start. Especially if the dog isn't comfortable with large groups, or loud situations.

There are so many things a therapy dog can do. They are using dogs as walking partners for people who need to get out and excersise for their medical issues. A dog who walks beautiful on leash can be just the incentive that someone who is otherwise housebound may need. I have seen dogs even be used for agoraphobics to get them out and at least walk in the yard or neighborhood, just so they get out of the house and dogs make a great companion for these people. These types of therapy programs usually only require a well behaved dog, easy to handle and may only be needed once or twice a week.

When most people think of therapy dogs, they think of the ones that assist the physically disabled. Many help comfort and accompany people with PTSD or psychological disorders that aren't visually impaired or disabled. Having a dog available to them to accompany them on shopping trips, dining out or visiting friends is a huge gift.

So there are lots of areas that a dog can assist others on a daily basis. Like the above poster,there are areas to assist in programs for autistic children. And of course the well known trips to living assistance homes, hospitals and homebound patients. There are also programs for visiting dogs to children in hospitals that are fighting terminal diseases that would welcome a dog's soft touch or cuddle in their bed.

I personally think boxers are a great breed for kids and the elderly because they are very aware of peoples limits. My boxer was nutso, but she met a child in a wheel chair and was the most gentle and loving girl. She is also very gentle when meeting elderly people. So I just think boxers "get" when they can be crazy and when they should be gentle.

 

[larrygs]

When Layla was about a year old, she would be too rough with kids. Partly our fault for not controlling the interaction with kids when she was much smaller.

So you can imagine our concern when a very good friend who has advanced Parkinsons came to visit us for a weekend. It had become very difficult to watch our friend deteriorate over the years. He had become quite unstable when trying to walk, or doing anything for that matter. Now our friend was coming to visit with a energetic 1 year old boxer in the house. Our great fear was that Layla would accidently knock him down and injure him.

We were astonished when Layla immediately understood and became quite gently and attentive around him. They were constant companions and Layla brought great joy and comfort to him that weekend. Thinking about it brings tears.

You never know.

Good luck!

 

[entelekia]

Lego and I have been doing therapy work for the last 2 years.

We trained at the East Bay SPCA, as part of their PALS program:

http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/boxer-ring/152122-lego-therapy-dog.html

Our most regular work is going to 2 local libraries to help children in reading programs, but we've also done retirement homes, elementary schools, parades, toddler programs for humane education (teaching kids how to properly interact and care for a dog), "finals week" at UC Berkeley, and a few other things.

Here's one of the retirement home visits:

http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/boxer-ring/160990-therapy-dog-work.html

I found out recently that the AKC has included a Therapy Dog title, and with 2 years of visits under our belt, I might just put in for it. Just out of sheer vanity of course...

I say do it, it's soooooo rewarding.

 

[Brunopierock]

Thank you guys for your encouraging words! I'm gonna go for it. I have noticed the same thing mentioned above that they just seem to "know" when they need to be gentle. My 100 year old grandmother lived with us for awhile, and although Bruno was 5, 90 lbs and pretty active, he would seem to deliberately slow his gait around her. He would lay his head next to her on the bed when she rested and sit patiently beside her when she sat in her rocking chair. She used a walker and was pretty unsteady, and he never once caused her any problems. She adored him.

Unfortunately he isn't friendly enough with other dogs to qualify for most programs (and he's 10 now), but I'd like to give it a shot with one of my other sweeties.

Thanks again for your support. I'll keep you posted!!

 

[ELubas]

You will love it! I have been doing it for years with my girl, Nysa, and it is wonderful. They do seem to know when to be gentle and it is so rewarding. I did a class and certified her. She loves going and definetely has her favorites as she will pull me to thier rooms Enjoy!

 

[ahazard]

Tail Waggin Tutors

My Buffy is a therapy dog and she loves going to the library and having the kids read to her. She was never what I'd call normal in regards to the boxer energy...she's much happier to just lay around which is exactly what we do for the Tail Waggin Tutor program!

 

[kkee]

Lillie has been doing therapy work for a few months now We've done mostly senior centers/adult daycares and nursing homes, but also did a week at my college for stress relief of faculty and students during finals. We have an opportunity to participate in a reading program at a library, but I'm not sure she can sit still that long... On the other hand, Lillie will purposely seek out a child with a disability or delay, mental or physical - she actually showed me that she wanted to do it, as I hadn't considered it with her originally. Good luck!

 

[MorganBaby]

Any dog with the right temperament can be a therapy dog, including boxers. I've been asked multiple times when we are going to sign up for therapy dog classes, but I want to concentrate on doing competitive agility and obedience first; also let my girl mature a little more before doing it. The boxers love for people is one of their traits that makes them great for therapy work, and as others have said, the dog just picks up on the energy of the people and seems to know to calm down more. There's lots you can do in the line of therapy also, the typical going into hospitals/nursing homes, but also a lot of reading with kids programs, the other homes for disabled, mentally handicapped, demos for training clubs.
Usually the first step is taking normal obedience class then doing Canine Good Citizen (CGC) then Therapy Dog (TDI). Find a good trainer/club and they usually offer all those classes, that way the trainer also can watch the progress of your dog and help you decide if they will make a good dog for the program (like I said my trainer, and others, have been encouraging us to take the class, I've done up to CGC so far). Also the AKC website has information on doing the CGC and TDI classes, even has links to find some trainers that offer the classes.
Good luck and have fun!