Episode Summary
Ever wonder what it takes to train a therapy dog? Today on the show, I have Crystal Cabrera, OTR/L, CSRS, an occupational therapist who has been training her dog Koopa to become a therapy dog. So if you want to know the steps to take in order to train your own dog to be used in therapy, tune into the episode and be prepared because there are a lot of parallels between our work as OT practitioners and training therapy dogs.
Show Notes
Crystal and Sarah discuss:
- Why she decided to train her dog to be a therapy dog
- Difference between therapy dogs, service dogs, and emotional support animals
- Considerations of incorporating dogs into therapy
- Steps to train a therapy dog
- Hardest and best parts of the training program
- Intersection of occupational therapy and therapy dog training
- Considerations to be a therapy dog handler
- Advice for therapists or students who might be interested in training therapy dogs
- Mentioned Resources:
Connect with Crystal
- Website: https://thebrainyot.wixsite.com/website
- Email: thebrainyot@gmail.com
- Instagram: @thebrainyot/
