After completing the Online Handler Course, the therapy animal evaluation is the next step in the registration process. You’ll be evaluated on how your pet responds to new environments and how you guide interactions with others by listening and responding to your pet’s cues.
The evaluation is about more than passing a test. It protects the well-being of everyone at the visit. Thorough evaluations ensure that every interaction is safe, respectful, and positive.
Pet Partners offers two evaluation paths to ensure that every eligible person and their pet have access to an evaluation, no matter where you are located. Both paths lead to the same outcome: becoming an official therapy animal team that meets Pet Partners’ national standards.
Our Volunteer Team Evaluators host scheduled evaluation events featuring exercises designed to reflect real world visit scenarios.
Complete your evaluation with a Professional Dog Trainer or other qualified animal behavior or health professional. Evaluations may take place in public settings and follow a more flexible format than scheduled volunteer-led events.
Have specific questions about our evaluation process? We’ve got you covered. We host an optional monthly webinar where we’ll answer your lingering questions. Everything from how to find an evaluation near you to what to expect on evaluation day. Register for an upcoming evaluation webinar.
A therapy animal team evaluation takes about 25 to 40 minutes. Your evaluator assesses animal behavior and response to new environments, your handling skills and communication, and readiness for real-world therapy animal visits. Core evaluation exercises are consistent, but some vary slightly by species.
Therapy dog evaluations protect the well-being of everyone involved in a visit because they help ensure that every interaction is safe, respectful, and positive.
You’ll go on your first visits knowing how to read your animal’s behavior, guide interactions, and respond to unexpected situations. You’ll also be sure that your animal is comfortable in new settings and enjoys the work.
There are two pathways to complete a therapy dog evaluation: the Traditional Evaluation and the Alternate Evaluation. Volunteers can sign up for a Traditional Evaluation from their online registration in the Volunteer Center.
If you would prefer a more flexible option that fits your schedule, explore the Alternate Evaluation path to complete your therapy animal evaluation.
Pet Partners ensures every eligible person and their therapy pet can access a therapy dog evaluation, no matter where they are located.
No specific animal training is required for your pet to become a therapy animal!
However, they must be able to demonstrate basic obedience skills (appropriate to their species), comfort wearing a collar or harness and leash, reliable house training, and a temperament that welcomes interactions with strangers.
Visit our How it Works page for details about the criteria for animals in our program.
Our blog post on Preparing Your Pet for Therapy Animal Work also has useful training tips and guidance.
The best thing about the Pet Partners registration process is that each step bringing you closer to becoming a therapy animal team also helps you feel more confident in your readiness for this work.
The Handler Course will prepare you to guide each interaction with your pet, make decisions, and help ensure every visit is safe and positive. The evaluation will give you a chance to test your visit skills with your pet. It also allows for one of our Team Evaluators, a dog trainer, or other pet professional to tell you what skills to work on and what visit environments would suit you and your pet the best.
At Pet Partners, there’s a whole community here to support you. You can always contact us with additional questions.
