Basic Commands
The Assessor can ask the requirements in any order.
Sit and Down
The Assessor will request you ask your dog to “sit” and “down”
Your dog obeys your commands
Stay
The Assessor will request that you ask your dog to stay. You will then walk away, stop and then return to your dog.
Your dog remains in the stay position until you return to them.
The Assessor will request that you ask your dog to stay. You will then walk away, stop and call your dog to you.
Your dog remains in the stay position until you give them the command to come to you.
The Assessor will ask you to either put your dog into the stay position or the Assessor can hold their lead while you go out of the room for 15-20 seconds. You return to your dog.
Your dog remains calm while you are “out of sight”.
The Assessor will request that you ask your dog to stay. You will then walk away, stop and call your dog to you. There will be a distraction e.g. food/people to tempt your dog away from obeying the recall.
Your dog remains in the stay position until you give them the command to come to you. They are not tempted by the distraction.
Heel
The Assessor will ask you to walk your dog around the area.
Your dog walks nicely by your side on a loose/semi loose lead and their focus is on you.
Leave
The Assessor will ask you to walk your dog on a lead while passing by a “treat”. The requirement is that you ensure your dog does not eat the treat. You can you use your usual command to ask them to leave it e.g. leave, no etc. When on a visit you do not want your dog eating food on the ground as a lot of human food is not healthy for dogs. In a rest home or hospital there may be medication that has been dropped on the floor and we don’t want your dog eating it.
Your dog walks past the food and you ensure that they do not eat the “treat”.
Handling
The Assessor will approach your dog and pat your dog over their entire body including their head and tail, touch and pick up their paws.
Your dog accepts these interactions.
Interactions with a Stranger
Meeting a Stranger
The Assessor greets you but does not interact with your dog.
Your dog may change position but remains next to you.
The Assessor walks away then comes back and pats your dog.
Your dog allows patting while staying next to you.
Taking a Treat from a Stranger
The Assessor walks toward you with a treat in hand asking if they can feed your dog.
If you allow the treat to be taken, you can direct the Assessor how to best offer the treat and if there is a command they use e.g. wait, gentle
Treat is taken gently.
Food Possessiveness
Does the dog continue to seek treats or tries to get food someone is holding yet not offered.
Treat is ignored.
Novel Stimuli
You will be asked to walk your dog around the area where there will be items such as wheelchair, walker, crutches.
Your dog is comfortable walking near them and interacting with the person handling the item.
Your dog is comfortable walking around the area with other dogs and their owners and does not react to other dogs e.g. snapping, growling, lunging towards them, barking
A loud noise will be made e.g. yelling, dropping crutches.
Your dog may look but is not scared by the noise.
Assessment Information for Applicants
Please note - if you have an animal other than a dog, please email admin@communitypets.co.nz for further information.
The Assessment is to determine the suitability of your dog for the Therapy Pets programme. Both you and your dog must demonstrate that you work as a team and are comfortable in different environments.