Therapy Dog Seminar

Learn about the difference you and your dog can make at a special presentation about the “AIR Dog: Paws for Minds” assistance dog program. Tricia Baker, dog trainer and therapy dog specialist, will conduct this free seminar at Live and Learn Dogs training facility from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 25. Learn how simply petting a dog can improve your mental health and how bringing your trained canine to a facility can help others. “The nurses at a cancer infusion unit noticed that a patient’s blood pressure was always normal when he was petting a dog, but it was high without the dog,” said Baker, Director of “AIR Dog: Paws for Minds,” who visits there with her 6-year-old Pomeranian, Miki. The informational session also will provide the three legal classifications of support animals, an overview of the therapy program and its requirements and how you can train your companion to be a therapy dog through preparation classes at Live and Learn Dogs. Introduction to Animal-Assisted Therapy is a 6-week course to help students learn loose-leash walking, polite greetings with strangers and other behaviors useful to therapy teams. The Therapy Dog Evaluation Class is a 5-week class for advanced students or graduates of the introductory class to hone their skills in preparation for the therapy evaluation. For more information and to register for the seminar and classes, people can go to the website at www.liveandlearndogs.com. Baker is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Evaluator (CGC) and Certified Bright & Beautiful Therapy Dog Evaluator. She also is the Co-Director of Attitudes in Reverse (AIR), an all-volunteer organization that works to address mental health issues and student suicide prevention. Baker and her five dogs are involved in many activities, especially therapy. Her dog, Miki, has earned his Canine Good Citizen certification, Therapy Dog Certification from Bright & Beautiful and has been awarded the American Kennel Club Award of Canine Excellence. Her other dog Luna, a Pit Bull mix, was certified as a therapy dog at the age of 13, proving you can teach an old dog new tricks. Baker is partnering with Live and Learn Dogs, owned by professional trainer Adrienne Carson, CPDT-KA. Live and Learn Dogs also offers private training, obedience classes for puppies and dogs, specialized group training sessions and canine play groups. For more information about the therapy training classes or other offerings at Live and Learn Dogs, please visit their website at www.liveandlearndogs.com or call (908) 406-1385.