Pet Partners is pleased to present this guest post from one of our therapy cat teams. Stitches and her handler Nikki Christopher became a Pet Partners team in 2017 and Stitches gained attention for her work at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. We asked Stitches (with Nikki's assistance) to share some…
The Pet Partners Therapy Animal Program was originally designed to bring the benefits of therapy animals to people through in-person interactions, and this model has allowed our teams serve their communities for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions on in-person gatherings presented a major challenge to this model of…
This post is part of a continuing series on preparing your pet for therapy animal work. If you’re interested in becoming a therapy animal team with your pet, you’ll want to take time to get your animal ready for doing this work. The most important aspect of a successful therapy…
Does your pet show all the signs that they would make a great therapy animal? Then you’ve come to the right place! At Pet Partners, we equip our handlers with the education they need to ace their evaluation and become the best therapy animal team they can be. With the…
If you’re a registered Pet Partners therapy animal team in the U.S. or Canada, you received a team rating when you completed your team evaluation: it’s listed on your acceptance letter. And if you’re a staff member at a facility that receives visits from Pet Partners teams, you might be…
October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, and in honor of this important observance that helps shelter dogs find homes with loving families, we’re pleased to share this blog post about shelter pets as therapy animals. Approximately 6.5 million animals enter shelters across the U.S each year. If you’re like…
Pet Partners Myth Busters: What You Really Need to Know Before You Register If you are thinking about becoming a therapy animal team, you may have heard a lot of advice. Some of it is helpful. Some of it is confusing. And some if it is simply not true. Some people delay starting their journey because they…
Have you ever seen a dog in a vest and wondered, “Can I pet them? Are they allowed to be here? What are they trained for?” You’re not alone! The different roles that animals can have often get mixed up, but each role is very different. At Pet Partners, we…
Have you met an amazing therapy animal or seen one on your local news? If you have your own pet, maybe you asked yourself, “can my pet make a difference like that?” Every therapy animal is different and unique. They may also come from many different types of species. But…
The third annual Pet Partners Pet of the Year event raised thousands to support therapy animal teams and brought hundreds of participants and supporters together to celebrate the amazing animals in our lives. During this six-week competition, which was held February 5 - March 18, 2024, pet candidates (with help…
Join us in the tastiest fundraiser of the year! Treats & Sweets Day is an annual fundraising event that celebrates the sweetest day of the year, National Therapy Animal Day. How Does Treats & Sweets Day Work? Treats & Sweets Day is a chance to bake and sell…
It's almost April 30, which is National Therapy Animal Day! This special event was created by Pet Partners to recognize and celebrate the amazing work of therapy animals and their handlers. National Therapy Animal Day has several goals: Recognize and honor therapy animals for the amazing work they do. Raise…
When you think of a therapy animal, what comes to mind? Is it an adorable golden retriever seeming to smile at a client, or perhaps you imagine a horse at an equine-assisted facility? The work of these more common therapy animal species is spectacular, but there are other species in…
Originally published May 19, 2020; updated March 4, 2021 This post was originally published in May 2020, when we had early optimism about the possibility of returning to more typical therapy animal visits. Over the past 10 months we've seen the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic go through recurring waves…
Originally published March 2020; updated November 2020 As the world deals with the effects of COVID-19, one of the most important mitigation strategies is social distancing: having people distance and isolate themselves to help prevent spread of the virus. This important public health measure means that people are staying home…
