Enhance your knowledge and skills with Pet Partners’ online coursework for future and current volunteers, as well as facility staff and volunteer coordinators.
Are you interested in becoming a therapy animal team? Learn about the essential skills for handlers and their animals, how to facilitate a visit successfully, and prepare for your in-person evaluation. All volunteers must complete our signature training either online or through an in-person workshop. In-person course fee varies. Online course fee: $80.
Do you have a current therapy dog or one who aspires to be? It’s just as important that you are able to read your dog’s body language, as it is that you have a dog who is well-suited for therapy animal work. Increase your awareness of what your animal is saying and learn strategies to support your animal. Online course fee: $49.
Are you interested in volunteering in hospital or another medical setting? This course was developed to meet the requirements as established by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America for animals in healthcare and covers topics critical to therapy animal teams such as zoonotic diseases and the precautions you’ll need to take. Online course fee: $49.
Once you’ve been a Pet Partners team for 6 months, you’re eligible to pursue your crisis response credential and deploy to support your local community in the wake of a disaster. In this interactive training, you’ll role play a team reporting to different disasters ranging from school shootings to natural disasters. Build advanced skills to help your neighbors in need. Online course fee: $115.
Interested in taking more than one course? Discounted value packs are available. Are you a facility interested in preparing your volunteers? Contact us for bulk purchases. Contact
Create a login for the Pet Partners Volunteer Center.
Log in and click Courses and Events. This button will bring you to the Training Center.
Click Sign Up in the menu bar near the top of the page. Select Handler, then Online Courses.
Choose your course, add it to your cart, and check out to complete the transaction.
Interested in taking more than one course? Discounted value packs are available.
Are you a facility interested in preparing your volunteers? Contact us for bulk purchases.
After purchase, courses have a 3–6-month completion period. Please check individual courses for specific timeframes. When you complete your course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion to display your achievement.
Pet Partners is the only therapy animal organization to have courses endorsed by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). When completed together, the courses "Canine Body Language: Reading Signals from Therapy Dogs" and "Infection Prevention and Control: Therapy Animal Visitation in Healthcare Settings" meet the requirements outlined in “Animals in Healthcare Facilities: Recommendations to Minimize Potential Risks” published in 2015.
Pet Partners offers several free videos and resources to help you better understand therapy animal volunteerism. Volunteering With Your Pet is an introduction to program requirements and registration steps, or access our more detailed Volunteer Orientation Series. Our glossary of terms is also helpful as you navigate learning about Pet Partners and Animal-Assisted Interactions.
Professionals interested in incorporating therapy animals into their work are encouraged to check out our sister association, the Association of Animal-Assisted Intervention Professionals (AAAIP). This membership-based association focused on professionals in AAI offers a generous range of online education and resources with a practice-based focus, as well as a certification.
