AKC Canine Partners

[Stephanie and Ragley]

As Ragley and I move forward in our journey towards therapy dog certification, I have dug further into our options as far as titles and organizations. Something I have stumbled across is the AKC Therapy Dog Title. This is open to all breeds- pure or mixed- but the dog has to be registered with AKC. For our darling doodles this would be made possible through the AKC Canine Partners registry. AKC Canine Partners also allows mixed breed dogs to compete in select Agility, Rally, and Obedience competitions.

Ragley's CGC test is this coming Thursday and, if I was to register her, it would be nice to be able to have her AKC number to place on her CGC certificate.

Has anyone had experience with this or registered their doodle through this route? Thanks!

Read more about AKC Canine Partners here

[Ron Carnes]

Zack received his AKC Advanced Title last March. It does take some work. You have to register your dog as a mixed breed.  It goes by number of visits not hours. You will need a letter from your affiliate Therapy Dog organization and letters from each visited facility to document the number of visits.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

So Zack is registered through AKC Canine Partners? PS Congrats!

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Stephanie, I don't know anything about this.  It sounds interesting. But it's a good idea to decide where you want to work as a therapy team and ask what certification(s) they accept. I've been told the dog can only be registered through one therapy organization at a time because of insurance. Finn has just been accepted into the local hospital peds program but we've been waiting for 2 years because the hospital only accepted Delta/Pet Partners. They have just started to include Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs. Yay! 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Thanks for the information, Cheryl! I'll have to do some digging and consider what type of atmosphere in which I think Ragley would do best. :)

[Stephanie and Ragley]

Just curious, Cheryl- was it TDI that you belonged to before Delta (Pet Partners)? I know TDI does not allow you to belong to any other organizations besides TDI, but as far as I know, with Pet Partners and TDInc, you are allowed to belong to multiple.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are actually pet store doodles and other mixes who come with "AKC papers" because the puppy mills pay to register the litters with AKC Canine Partners. It's the same with purebred pet store puppies from puppy mills. AKC makes money registering them, too. It's essentially another way for the AKC to make money. I'm not knocking the AKC, they do a lot of good things, and if you want to compete in any of the areas you mentioned, it's a good idea to register with AKC Canine Partners. But a lot of people take those registries and "papers" as proof that a pet store puppy is from a reputable breeder, so I wanted to put that info out there. 

And good luck Thursday, I'm sure Ragley will do great. 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

That is good information to include on this discussion. I would be getting it so that we could be eligible for the AKC Therapy Dog titles, but I can absolutely see how this sort of registration could be used for less-than-noble motives. 

[Brittney & Cally]

I'm sure you and Ragley will do great! I agree with Cheryl that you should know where you want to work before you get certified. Cally is a working therapy dog at our local childrens hospital but one of their requirements is that you are not allowed to be affiliated with any other group. Cally had to go through the testing of the hospital and get her papers through them. While this restricts us to this hospital, I am very happy that she gets to work with the children! Good luck and I have to say being a therapy team is a lot of fun and very rewarding!

[Stephanie and Ragley]

So you guys are not registered with a group at all? Did the individual hospital have its own set of testing parameters? 

[Brittney & Cally]

Correct. We took the test in the hospital with their testers. One of there big ones is that they cannot lick! I was so nervous about this because she is a huge licker! She did great though.

[Kaitee and Orwell]

I have not gone this route, but I plan on going this route soon and registering with the AKC. My plan and hope is that Orwell can get his CGC, Obedience title, and service certification so I can take him almost anywhere without a problem. 

Right now he is in class 2/4 to get his CGC, so I can wait a bit. But if you want to get Ragley registered, I suggest you start soon.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Katie: if you are planning on certifying Orwell as a Therapy Dog...this does not mean he is welcome everywhere. Legally , the only time a Therapy Dog is allowed where other dogs are not is when he is working. This would be also be the only times you are covered by insurance by the Group you represent. Most Groups have strict rules of wearing their jacket anytime other than in the working environment.
Therapy dogs are the lowest form of Service Dogs on the totem pole. Representing them as anything else is illegal. And it is a huge complaint of those working with true Service Dogs. Our area is home to Canine Companions training facility. It is very common to see the Dogs and their Trainers in our grocery stores. A Therapy a Dog is not allowed in Restaurants, grocery stores, etc. My daughter, for awhile also trained Service Dogs, for both Handicap and retired Military. Which is why I mention this. If you meant training as a true Service Dog...forget you ever read this post! :p