From Hound to Hero: A Dog's Journey To Therapy Certification

Editor's note: the following was submitted by Sequoyah High School's Briana Outlaw.

Nobody can resist Man’s Best Friend. A dog’s faithfulness fills an emptiness in our hearts and when we see the bundle of love known as a dog, we can’t help but smile.

However, one Sequoyah High School senior recently embarked on a project to see if man's best friend could be transformed into a companion that could provide an even greater source of joy.

Isabelle Riddle took on the demanding task of transforming her dog, Chloe, into a therapy dog. By definition, a therapy dog is trained to provide affection and comfort to individuals in hospitals, retirement homes, schools, hospices or disaster areas.

Riddle said the final goal of the project was to get Chloe certified as a therapy dog through the program Therapy Dogs International. Additionally, Chloe will have to pass an intensive 13-stage test to gain this certification.

Riddle could not tackle this great mission alone, so she received help from Brenda Rehrig, her project facilitator and a dog trainer at Canine Ranch in Canton. At their initial meeting, Rehrig and Riddle assessed Chloe’s obedience skills and body language, reviewed the testing requirements, and pinpointed her strengths and weaknesses.

Rehrig also showed Riddle how to give commands authoritatively to Chloe while also keeping her focused.
Riddle introduced Chloe to various unfamiliar environments in an attempt to get her acclimated to strange settings as well as to increase her socialization skills with other people.

"One of Chloe’s weaknesses at this point is getting overwhelmed in place, and when she gets this way, she will not look at me or follow my commands," the student said.

Riddle notes that she has a considerable amount of training to complete before Chloe begins to exhibit obedience skills and remain relaxed in these types of situations.

Upon various meeting with Rehrig, Riddle showed her Chloe’s progress, and Rehrig gave her helpful tips in return, such as: how to train her to leave an object alone on command, ignore other distractions like dogs, people, or loud noises, stay close to Riddle without a leash, interact with other dogs, remain calm in frantic settings and to engage in basic commands such as "sit."

Numerous obstacles presented themselves on Chloe’s journey to certification. However, one of the most prominent obstacles that Riddle and Chloe faced was an injury to the dog’s paw. Luckily, Chloe did not exhibit any bone damage, but this injury did cause training to be delayed quite a bit.

As time progressed, Chloe became more accustomed to strangers and did not react nervously when unfamiliar people pet her. In fact, when Riddle took her out in public, she placed a vest on Chloe that read, “Therapy Dog in Training: Please Pet Me.”

Once Chloe’s training became more serious, Riddle registered her for a certification test held in October in Lawrenceville.

After completing mounds of paperwork for the certification, Riddle and her dog were ready. The test was held in a small church in Lawrenceville, and Riddle states that the room in which the test was to be conducted was filled with other dogs and their owners.

“Chloe seemed distracted and agitated, but she managed to stay focused on me for the most part,” Riddle added, noting the test was "very comprehensive and intense."

Unfortunately, Chloe did not pass the test. The evaluators told Riddle that the presence of other dogs seemed to make Chloe agitated, and this would cause Chloe to lose focus at potentially critical moments.

Although Riddle was discouraged, she hopes to continue to work with Chloe on her obedience and socialization skills, so she can possibly get certified in the future.

Photo: Isabelle Riddle with her facilitator, Brenda Rehrig. Credit: Isabelle Riddle