Therapy Dog Training & Certification in Boca Raton

Off Leash K9 Training Boca Raton prepares dogs and their owners for therapy dog certification with a structured 8-session program — AKC Canine Good Citizen preparation, real-world public-access work, and evaluation prep for national therapy organizations. The program is $1,000, includes a free evaluation and lifetime support, and is taught in-home across Palm Beach and Broward County. Call (561) 513-5333.

How to Make Your Dog a Therapy Dog: The Honest Answer

Every week someone asks us how to turn their sweet, people-loving dog into a certified therapy dog. Here is the honest, complete answer — the same one we give at every evaluation:

• Step 1 — Temperament first. Therapy work cannot be forced into a dog. The right candidate is naturally calm, genuinely enjoys strangers, recovers quickly from surprises, and tolerates clumsy handling — wheelchairs, walkers, grabbing hands, hospital sounds. Our free evaluation tells you honestly whether your dog has the temperament before you spend a dollar.
• Step 2 — Rock-solid obedience. A therapy dog must hold a sit, down, and place around chaos, walk on a loose leash through crowds, leave dropped food and medication alone, and greet without jumping — every time, not most times.
• Step 3 — The AKC Canine Good Citizen test. The CGC is the standard gateway: ten test items covering greetings, grooming tolerance, walking through a crowd, reaction to other dogs, and separation. We prepare and test for all ten.
• Step 4 — Therapy organization evaluation. Certification comes from a recognized therapy organization, not from a trainer. We prepare teams for evaluations with organizations such as Therapy Pets Unlimited and TDI-style evaluators, and we coach you through the registration process.
• Step 5 — The owner learns too. Therapy work is a team activity. Half of every session trains you: reading your dog's stress signals, managing visits, and knowing when your dog needs a break.

Therapy Dog vs. Service Dog vs. ESA: Know What You Need

These three get confused constantly, and choosing the wrong path wastes months. The one-minute version:

Important: a therapy dog is not an ADA service dog. Vests and online "registrations" do not grant access rights — training and, for service dogs, a qualifying disability do.

Service Dog Training in Boca Raton

Alongside therapy prep, Off Leash K9 Training Boca Raton runs a dedicated service dog training track for handlers with a qualifying disability. Service work is task-based and customized: mobility assistance (bracing, retrieving dropped items, opening doors), psychiatric tasks (deep-pressure therapy, interrupting anxiety behaviors, creating space in crowds), and alert work. Every service program also builds true public-access reliability — the composed, invisible-in-public behavior that legitimate service work demands in restaurants, stores, and airports.

Because service dog training is shaped around one handler's specific needs, it is quoted individually after the free evaluation. Expect a serious, multi-month commitment built on the same balanced methodology as every program we run — and the same honesty: if your dog's temperament will not carry the work, we say so at the evaluation, not after months of fees.

The 8-Session Therapy Dog Preparation Program — $1,000

Includes the free pre-program evaluation and lifetime support. If your dog needs obedience groundwork first, we will tell you at the evaluation and route you to the right starting program — from $375 — instead of selling you a therapy program your dog is not ready for.

Where Boca Raton Therapy Teams Serve

Certified teams from our program visit hospitals, senior living and memory-care communities, schools, libraries, and courthouse programs across Palm Beach and Broward County. Demand for registered teams in South Florida consistently exceeds supply — facilities maintain waiting lists for visiting dogs. If you have ever watched your dog light up a room and wished you could share that, this is the structured path to doing it safely and officially.

The program is taught in-home and in real public environments across our whole service area — Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Deerfield Beach, Lighthouse Point, Coral Springs, Parkland, and the surrounding communities.

Is Your Dog a Therapy Dog Candidate?

Strong candidates usually show most of these signs. Be honest — the evaluation will be:

• Moves toward new people, softly, without jumping or mouthing.
• Settles on its own within a few minutes in a new place.
• Recovers from a dropped pan or a slammed door in seconds, not minutes.
• Tolerates paws, ears, and tail being handled — including by strangers.
• Shows no guarding of food, toys, or people.
• Is at least one year old (most organizations require it) and fully vaccinated.

Dogs that fall short on obedience but shine on temperament are routed through Basic Obedience ($650) or Basic & Advanced ($1,000) first, then into therapy prep. Dogs with fear or reactivity issues get an honest referral to our behavior programs instead — therapy work would not be fair to them.

Therapy Dog Training FAQ