Therapy dog nursing home business? (breeder, training, cross, breed)

[trailways]

Hi. I'm curious whether or not there is a market out there for therapy dogs visiting nursing homes. Assuming the dog is trained as a therapy dog (in this case a beautiful 2 year old Golden Retriever). I was wondering if relatives would pay for a 30 minute to an hour visit to their loved one in a nursing home, particularly during the holidays. Perhaps a fee of $20 for 30 minutes? 10 visits for $150?

[Katie1]

This is done for FREE!! You want to make money on what others do for nothing...well good luck!

[APBT_Samara]

x2 Katie! I never thought of charging anyone for dog visits. Never crossed my mind. Its done to bring joy to others, get some time out yourself and for your dog to also enjoy the interaction. I couldn't imagine someone paying for it.

[AliceT]

Originally Posted by trailways

Hi. I'm curious whether or not there is a market out there for therapy dogs visiting nursing homes. Assuming the dog is trained as a therapy dog (in this case a beautiful 2 year old Golden Retriever). I was wondering if relatives would pay for a 30 minute to an hour visit to their loved one in a nursing home, particularly during the holidays. Perhaps a fee of $20 for 30 minutes? 10 visits for $150?

For starters, the therapy dogs are trained as therapy dogs. Just because your dog is friendly or "obedience trained" does not qualify the animal as a therapy dog.

Second, People who have therapy dogs offer this service all across the nation without a fee. It's a matter of people caring about other people.

If you put a price on it, without viable references, it would likely land you in jail as a scam artist feeding on the elderly or the relatives of the elderly.

Police don't take kindly to people taking advantage of the elderly or the infirm or the very young.

The local chapter of the ASPCA would likely get involved as well, as it would appear you are trying to make a living using your dog in a scam.

[trailways]

My name is Mr. Jones and my wife is sick in a nursing home. She really takes well to dog therapy and I am looking for someone to visit her on a regular basis. I would like a trained dog to be there M,W, and F from 2pm-3pm for the next 6 months. Do you know who I could call to get this type of service?

[pinetreelover]

Trailways,
I see your point - there might be folks who would want this type of a service on a regular, scheduled basis rather than wait for a volunteer program such as Happy Tails to make a visit to their facility. Perhaps the market (if there is one) is not with individuals but with the nursing care facilities themselves. In other words an assisted living center might offer dog therapy (with outsourced dogs) as part of their care.

[Katie1]

Well 1st where are you located??? 2nd what nursing home is your wife in?

[dreamhunter65]

This would be like us that do SAR charging a fee..Better have a very large insurance policy if attempt to do this.

[dreamhunter65]

Originally Posted by trailways

My name is Mr. Jones and my wife is sick in a nursing home. She really takes well to dog therapy and I am looking for someone to visit her on a regular basis. I would like a trained dog to be there M,W, and F from 2pm-3pm for the next 6 months. Do you know who I could call to get this type of service?

Ask a breeder/show person as this be a training tool for them.
Another option look at local obedience training classes and ask trainer if has someone willing that has passed the CGC course.

[Carbondated]

I'm confused, by this post.
Is the OP looking for a "market" for pet therapy ("in this case, a beautiful 2 yr old Golden Retriever")?
Or is the OP looking for a trained therapy dog to go visit his wife in a nursing home?

As already stated, therapy dogs are provided free of charge by wonderful volunteers.
It is the nursing home Administrator that you should contact, should you desire pet therapy for your wife. Most LTCF's have a pet therapy program already in place and are used in conjunction with other forms of therapy. Again, ask the Administrator of your wife's facility. They are knowledgeable about pet therapy and probably have contacts in already in place. Additionally, if you can not speak with the Administrator of the facility, contact the Activities Director, who are normally in charge of scheduling pet therapy programs.