Hey guys So I know we have at least a few therapy dogs on here.

I've been really interested in doing it with the little one once she gets older. She's quite easy-going and new environments and loud/upredictable noises don't seems to phase her in the least. It's just that she's shy around new people and will stick to my side. Once she knows it's okay, she's a big cuddle-bug.
I know her personality will change and develop as she gets older and past the easy, all-absorbing puppy stage, I figure the two of us have a ways to go, but you can never start training too early, right?

Anyway, any tips on the shyness? We've gotten better by just having people treat her, having her sit (so she can't go hide behind me lol) when she greets strangers, etc.

General advice for getting a puppy off on the right foot for this kind of thing? Thanks in advance!

Ghost was a little shy, especially around little kids when she was Korra's age, so we just made sure she got tons of exposure. We took her everywhere we could once her shots were complete, and Home Depot is actually a great place. They're all dog friendly (I still call ahead when we go to a new one to be sure), and the dogs get loads of attention.

We've done all but have Ghost tested on an actual therapy test, and that's just a function of not being able to line up a tester in FL before we moved and things still being disrupted here in MD. If she's not already in training classes, you should get her in one. We had great luck at the Petsmart by our house in FL, but I know others haven't had as good luck with Petsmart/Petco. Find a good trainer in your area and go straight through from beginner to CGC. Korra will need to pass the CGC before she can test for therapy.

Hopefully some of the other folks with therapy dogs will chime in, and in the meantime best of luck with Korra!

Yup - everything what Meredith said!

I have a unique perspective because I have both a fearful, poorly socialized before we rescued her husky and a "bombproof" husky that was fully trained when we got him!

Chili, our therapy dog, is the latter and was a shoe-in for therapy dog based on his good manners and friendly nature. We maintained his training and good manners with regular at home training daily (after the first 6 months, it's really only a few minutes a day), stayed consistent with our rules and routine, and took him everywhere! Staying consistent is very important - huskies are a bossy breed and constantly challenge you for leadership. He's such a good boy, but is no exception in this manner.

He's good at adapting to new situations but you could tell in the beginning that he was adjusting to being in large crowds, etc and looked to us for guidance. We stayed calm in each situation and he learned. He's so good now - nothing phases him! I actually dropped my keys on him the other day by accident and my friend was amazed that he just turned around to see if was food and didn't move. Both he and his sister went with us to a big Halloween Carnaval with 300,000 people this year and were a huge hit!

Now onto the fearful husky - she was afraid of the space heater, the washer dryer noise (ours is quiet), the swiffer, the broom, a bike pump, people in hats, people in scarves, people in sunglasses, etc! We also take her everywhere and just act normal if she's confronted with something new - she's come a long way. She was along with us in that 300,000 person crowd and did so well! This emphasizes the importance of socializing a puppy early on, but also that you can desensitize a dog to things they may be afraid of with consistent exposure and training.

Expose your puppy to everything and everyone, different situations, different people, different surfaces and make sure to keep her experiences positive. Offset any unexpected negative experiences with new positive ones. She will also need to be good with other dogs since you may be in a room with multiple other therapy dogs, so definitely make sure she is socialized around all kinds of other dogs.

One of the most important things that isn't often mentioned is that therapy dogs are certified as a therapy dog team, not just as a "therapy dog". The test evaluators also evaluate how well you do as a handler and how you and the dog interact. I'm proud that we received compliments on my handling, and that they were happy with how I talked Chili through all the different test scenarios (even walking him past a hot dog on the floor!). They were confident that we BOTH could handle any situation that would come in a hospital, nursing hom, school environment, etc. Chili and I did agility classes together to strengthen our bond, especially around many, many distractions. He learned to not be distracted by other dogs, treats, activity and focus on my commands. It was also a great opportunity to continue socializing him around other dogs and people.

Many organizations ask you wait until the dog is out of puppyhood, since the dogs will need to exercise self control that they may not have at a younger age. Our 3 year old would NOT be ready, but we are slowly training her to eventually join us in therapy work. Definitely familiarize yourself with organizations in your area and the testing requirements. For us, we did the CGC at the same time as the therapy evaluation. However, I've also heard that our evaluation was longer and in a more distracting environment than other people's (in a park in a group of 5 dogs and other handlers, with about 15 other dogs in groups around us), for 2 1/2 hours.

That said, it is so incredibly rewarding and FUN to do with your dog that I highly encourage anyone with a calm, friendly, obedient dog to train for the evaluation and join an organization. We've had so much fun and we're starting an 8 week reading program next week at the local elementary school. We've already been there twice for introductions and they loooove him so much!

If all it takes is me taking my dog somewhere for a couple hours a week and make such an impact in people's lives through that, how easy is that? It's the least I can do to help my community, especially because we feel so blessed to have Chili and love sharing him with the world! Good luck!

Treat and retreat helps! Most shy or fearful dogs really just want space... With Ewe (my Aussie) we have begun this behavioral program within a month of having him and now my dog who used to be terrified of every person and every dog to the point of a fearful aggressive reaction meets people with more confidence and knows I will read him appropriately and help him escape the situation if needed.

Basically you have the dog on leash and walk towards their "trigger" and as soon as they are just under threshold (before they are looking to escape or hide in your case) wait for a signal that shows they're trying to deal with their stress appropriately (turning away, sniffing, lip licking) and then mark that behavior and retreat away from the trigger. Once you're away you can reward the dog initially... But you want them to associate the marked behavior with the reward of getting space. Seems counter productive to reward the dog by walking away and not encouraging them to be closer but it has been SO effective. Obviously this is something that is worked multiple times in a row.

I have to agree with everything said so far. Onyx is currently working through his training to get TDI certified within the next month. One thing our trainer said, as we have a boxer/GSD mix in our class that is hesitant with children, is to go to Petsmart and as people walk in ask if they could give her treats and pet her. You are on the right track but being in Petsmart might add that extra distraction.

We have the opposite problem with Onyx, he tends to move quickly to somebody for affection, he just loves people, and our trainer suggested we do the same thing. So we are currently taking him to Petsmart when we can so he can walk around and learn to greet people properly.

I agree with everyone's post! Socialize socialize socialize! Two of my dogs are therapy dogs and my third has his CGC and is in therapy dog classes now. She is young so I would socialize her with both dogs and people, and practice some basic obedience stuff with her too. With a therapy dog socialization is really the key- you want them to be friendly with people and animals in general- we have a CAT at one of our facilities we visit lol. Also, you said she hides behind you when she sees new people.. Something you can do is teach her to target your hand and reward her with food- once she understands that then teach her to target a family member of friends hand, then translate it to strangers. It has worked for one of my dogs and is actually awesome because I can now ask him to touch my hand and he will adjust his body position to where I need him to be- which is great if I need him to move out of the way of a wheelchair, etc. Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks everyone for the really thoughtful advice so far
We will definitely keep up with the socialization! We've also found a place that does basic obedience and therapy training with a lady who has all her dogs certified for Reading with Rover, and we'll be meeting them this weekend for introductions and some puppy play time! I'm pretty stoked.
We're practicing taking my commands through distractions and..well, we're working on it haha. Getting better Helps that she's super food motivated.
The two of us are making it up as we go lol. I will do some research properly this weekend.
Model being calm in new environments with her (hope I'm summarizing your advice right, Sam), mark coping behaviors, target hands, we will start working all on those Walking away from the trigger is really interesting.
Once she has all her shots bringing her out to socialize will be much easier.
..and now I'm really late for class..sorry if I ramble no time to edit
and good luck to Onyx on getting certified!