Training with therapy in mind

How we Train with Therapy in mind

Not every dog is suitable for therapy work due to their temperament, however, we breed with the intention that some of our doodle puppies dogs will mature to be excellent therapy dogs. Therapy dogs bring many physical benefits to those they interact with. Therapy Dogs may help lower blood pressure and heart rate, reduce anxiety, and increase levels of endorphins and oxytocin. As part of our Our Mission, our dream is that people’s lives will be transformed and dogs in schools and places of learning will be an expectation, not an exception! In addition, we want to work directly with therapists, counselors, and facilities to improve their outcomes and bring lasting joy to their clients through the power of a dog!

We recommend our 12-Week Program as a precursor to future Therapy Training with a certified instructor. We are not certified therapy dog trainers, however, both are working toward their hours of certification.

1. We socialize your doodle puppy to new people, places, objects, and surfaces with our Puppy Socialization Checklist to the best of our ability. COVID-19 has made some of these things challenging.

2. A robust Sound Training Protocol

3. We train necessary behaviors for therapy work including “leave it”, & loose-leash walking, and not jumping on people (“four on the floor”).

4. We refer your puppy for therapy dog class which will prepare you and your dog for a future in therapy work. Locally this is who we recommend: MAPLE CREEK

5. After 12 weeks of Doodle School and a formal external evaluation, we recommend connecting with a national therapy dog organization to begin making visits and brightening lives. It’s your responsibility, however, to stay on top of your dog’s training and make sure they’re the best therapy dog they can possibly be.

6. Certification is the final hurdle in a dedicated process toward becoming a therapy dog, however, which includes temperament assessment, additional training, and more.

For an 8- to 12-week-old puppy, foundational training focuses on simple, age-appropriate exercises that lay the groundwork for empathy and responsiveness to human emotions. Puppies at this stage are just beginning to explore the world, and training is gentle, playful, and highly rewarding to foster positive associations with people’s emotions. Here’s how this training might look:

8- to 12-Week Foundational Empathy Training

1. Gentle Exposure to Human Emotions

   • Objective: Introduce the puppy to different human emotions in a safe and supportive way.

   • Exercises: A trainer or handler may pretend to cry softly, act excited, or speak in a calming tone. The puppy’s reactions are observed, and they’re rewarded with gentle praise or treats when they show curiosity, approach, or offer comforting behavior (like snuggling or licking). This helps the puppy learn to associate human emotions with a relaxed response and positive outcomes.

2. Handling and Comfort Training

   • Objective: Get the puppy accustomed to being handled gently by people expressing different emotional tones.

   • Exercises: The puppy is held or petted while a handler calmly talks to them, expressing different emotions like happiness or gentle sadness. If the puppy responds calmly and stays engaged, they’re rewarded with treats and soft praise. This exercise helps puppies build a bond with people and get used to responding positively to subtle emotional cues.

3. Basic Commands Reinforced with Emotion

   • Objective: Start teaching basic commands with a layer of emotional responsiveness.

   • Exercises: Puppies are introduced to simple commands like “sit” and “come.” The handler uses an upbeat, encouraging tone to call the puppy over when they approach, expressing enthusiasm with gentle praise. The puppy is rewarded with treats when they respond, helping them associate their actions with positive feelings in the handler. This also encourages attentiveness to human vocal tone and body language.

4. Calm Reinforcement During Play

   • Objective: Encourage calm behavior when the handler shifts to a quiet, relaxed state.

   • Exercises: After a few minutes of play, the handler will sit quietly and gently signal the puppy to calm down. Puppies learn to associate calmer energy with positive attention and treats, helping them understand and respond to shifts in human mood. This exercise fosters sensitivity to a handler’s body language and emotional shifts, laying a foundation for empathy.

5. Rewarding Empathetic Behavior

   • Objective: Reinforce natural comforting behaviors that indicate empathy.

   • Exercises: When a puppy offers comforting gestures—such as approaching, sniffing, or gently licking the person when they hear a sad or soft tone—the behavior is immediately rewarded. This positive reinforcement encourages puppies to repeat empathetic responses, even if they don’t fully understand emotions at this age.

These gentle exercises help puppies develop the foundational sensitivity needed for future therapy work. It’s about instilling early curiosity, comfort with human emotion, and an openness to approach and interact, which are all building blocks of empathy. At Stokeshire, these early-stage training exercises are designed to nurture a puppy’s natural tendencies, guiding them towards responsiveness and emotional awareness as they grow.

What makes for a Good Therapy Dog?

• If they allow strangers to pet them

• How easily they allow strangers to check them

• Ability to be held or touched for long periods

• Ability to walk on a leash

• Ability to walk through a crowd with good behavior

• Ability to follow basic commands

Our Trainers

HOW Doodle School WORKS

8 and 12-week Doodle School are very limited and only offered for those going into Therapy Training after leaving Doodle School.

Certified Therapy Dogs

Therapy dogs go through specific therapy training to be able to provide relief to those in anxiety-provoking situations, bring comfort to those who are grieving or lonely, and offer affection to people who are in institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. Emotional support dogs don’t have the intensive and specialized training that a service dog receives. Therapy dogs need to have a calm and gentle disposition. They must be good around other dogs, calm when strangers pet them all over, not jump on others, walk on a leash without pulling, and not be startled by things such as strange noises, smells, and medical equipment. Certified Therapy Dogs are allowed in places where all dogs are allowed and in places that specifically allow therapy dogs, like those hospitals, schools, libraries, etc. that have therapy dog programs.

• Dogs must be at least one year old to become therapy dog.

• Puppies must complete 12 Weeks of Doodle School with one of our trainers until they are 20 Weeks Old.

• They must successfully achieve all three AKC Good Citizen++ levels.

• Working with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and an additional training facility we work in tandem to complete these three steps over 35 weeks of training and care.

  Step 1: A certified therapy dog must be a friendly dog. Stokeshire Doodles and Poodles can be trained to provide comfort and affection to people in hospitals, retirement homes, schools, mental health institutions, airports, and many other settings. 12 Weeks of Doodle School helps ensure the passing of the next two steps.
  

  Step 2: We work with a certified tester/observer in the central Wisconsin area to test our candidate. This test includes a handling portion that tests your dog’s basic good manners, demeanor, and handling skills to become a Canine Good Citizen.
  

  Step 3: After the handling portion of the test, you and your dog are supervised by a tester/observer during three visits with residents of medical facilities. Upon successful completion of these visits and submission of your application paperwork, you and your dog may become a Therapy Team!
  

  Throughout this process, our trainers work with you, the future handler and teammate, to not only keep you in close contact with your puppy’s progress but also on our process \and to help educate you along the journey towards becoming a Therapy Dog Team!

Disclaimer:

If you're looking for a perfectly trained puppy that always comes when called, never has accidents, and never barks or chews, this program, and our dogs are not a good fit for you! We don't promise perfection, but we do guarantee health and the highest level of love, care, and attention.

Our clients have done their research and understand the ongoing commitment and hard work required for raising a puppy, even after Twelve Weeks of Doodle School.

At Doodle School, we set a foundation and a framework that requires around-the-clock care and attention that starts with our Puppy Potty Training Solution. The focus is on crate training and socialization for the first 8 to 16 weeks of life. At the end of 16 weeks, think of your puppy as a 4-year-old child. After 12 weeks of Doodle School, think of your puppy as a six-year-old. Our goal is to have them potty trained, much like our expectations for our children sending them to Kindergarten. Are they able to play well with others? Are they afraid of new things? Can they walk in a line to the bathroom or cafeteria? Maybe, but they can't do it alone. They still need guidance, support, and encouragement for the behaviors we want to see in them. They need routine and structured patience and kindness every step of the way.

After each 4-Week Session, owners understand and agree to additional training; either professional or otherwise. We help to manage your expectations and give you valid and honest feedback about the progression of your pup weekly via email with additional phone/email support post-graduation.

Upon arriving home, expect regression. The spaces, new people, new smells, new routines. We aid you in setting up your spaces to mimic the routines they have become accustomed to. Schedules and reward systems are crucial to overall success.

Lastly, we want you to enjoy every moment with your puppy, even when they make mistakes. They love you more than they love themselves. They are always watching and learning from you and their environment; looking to you for positive feedback (R+). The whole process is a sensory-rich journey! We want you to have confidence as you continue building on the blocks that started with the end in mind, long before conception.