So excited to step up to the #BragTable! While checking email on my lunch break I found out I am officially a Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, INC! Whoohoo!
In November of 2013, I drove 2 hours and 75 miles to the closest Tester/Observer so that my dog
( Knox the Great Pyrenees ) and I could take the Therapy Dogs, INC test to become registered members and start visiting people in hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities. That day I swore I would do everything I could to become a Tester/Observer so no one else in my area had to drive so far. To do so, I needed to be a member in good standing for at least 6 months and prove that I had experience working with dogs of a variety of breeds, ages, and temperaments. In January of 2014 I began volunteering at the local humane society. I have put in almost 75 hours volunteering there in the past year, 90% of those hours have been since June. I go every Sunday to work with and train their dogs.
My 10 Day #DoOverBook challenge was to finish getting everything together for my application, which included getting two reference letter, writing a detailed application letter about my experience with people and dogs, my dog’s training, and why I thought I should be a Tester/Observer. I also had to take a pretty extensive test covering the rules and guidelines for administering the test. I got held up for about a month trying to get everything all clear on my dog so we could get our membership renewed and got very frustrated. Two weeks ago yesterday I finally mailed everything in! I got a call last night from TDInc so they could offer some advice on two of my answers, and today at lunch I found my acceptance email waiting in my inbox! Some days it pays to take lunch an hour late wink emoticon
So….whoohooo! My 14 month hustle has paid off! Now…on to phase two: Find some prospective teams to test and finally get some more therapy dogs out there!