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What is a Therapy Dog?
A therapy dog is a dog that performs a service for other people. Typical therapy dog tasks are going to nursing homes or hospitals to cheer people up. For your dog to qualify, he/she must be friendly with strangers, and with training, be able to work around a high level of distraction and to understand personal boundaries, such as not jumping up, licking, mouthing, etc.
Research shows that therapy dogs can have a positive effect on a patient’s mood, stress, and pain levels during facility stays. Children, in particular, respond positively to therapy dogs. They are more motivated to participate in treatments, feel optimistic about the future, and experience an overall sense of calm when a certified therapy dog is present.
Therapy dogs can promote social interaction between individuals within communities that may not otherwise experience socialization typically. Therapy dogs offer unconditional love, non-judgmental interaction, reduce stress, anxiety, and loneliness and provide an overall positive distraction to ailments.
Goals for Your Therapy Companion
- Socialization
- Lower Pain Levels
- Motivation
- Provide Comfort
- Decrease in Stress, Anxiety, and Depression
- Promote Healing
- Increase Overall Optimism
- Ease Loneliness
Not all training packages may be available at our Dog Training Elite Des Moines location, please reference our pricing page for complete information on services offered.
Therapy Dog
Therapy dog training is based on your dog's abilities.
$2,495
A therapy dog volunteers alongside you, where permitted, and provides comfort to others. Examples include cheering people up at nursing homes or hospitals.
A good therapy dog is naturally friendly with strangers, able to work around a high level of distraction (with training), and able to understand personal boundaries, such as not jumping up, licking, mouthing, etc (with training).
- Private, one-on-one training sessions 8 Sessions
- One extra one-on-one site visit
- Group dog training in the community 8 Months
- Handler Training on volunteer therapy environments
- AKC Testing (Canine Good Citizen test)
- Therapy bandana, certification and ID Cards
- An exclusive directory of therapy events and locations for you to donate your time
- Come
- Walk with you (no more pulling)
- Sit (next to you)
- Sit (off leash, at a distance)
- Down (next to you)
- Down (off leash, at a distance)
- Wait
- Quiet (stop barking and whining)
- Load up in the car
- Kennel
- Place
- Heel
- No Jumping up (on people)
- Make a friend
- Offer personalized greetings (high five, shake, hug, etc.)
Our Balanced Theory
We base our training around the "Classical Conditioning" model (a.k.a. "Pavlovian" or "respondent conditioning"). This includes developing conditioned or automatic reflexes to commands. In its simplest form (after proper conditioning), when the owner says "sit," the dog automatically sits without thinking about it. Our unique techniques ensure our program is a success no matter what behavior we encounter.
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Empowering Owners
We empower Owners to train so their dog knows who to obey at all times. -
Personalized
We deal with problem behaviors on a personal basis. -
Environment Specific
We train wherever issues tend to arise (i.e. jogging, park, home).
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Supportive
We support Owners in the off-hours (when training is "not in session"). -
Involved
We work with all members of the household. -
Simplified & Customized
We plan training around the owner's schedule and require only 20 min/day follow-up practice.
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Continued Training
Additional programs / group sessions offered after in-home training. -
Lifetime Investment
We follow up & are invested in the owner's success long-term. -
Satisfaction Ratings
Our high client satisfaction rating sets us apart from competitors.
clas·si·cal con·di·tion·ing
PSYCHOLOGY
noun
A learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired; a response that is at first elicited by the second stimulus and is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone.
We help your dog become a valued companion and beloved member of the family. Read what our customers have to say and then give us a call!
They do an awesome job with training and explaining everything and teaching you as well how to do everything! They answer all of your questions and I would definitely recommend them!!! Well worth the money.—
Posted August 17th 2023
Dog Training Elite has been absolutely awesome for my German Shepherd Loki. He was dog reactive and lacked the confidence he needed. With the 6 weeks of training from Dog Training Elite he has improved drastically. Both trainers we worked with Jack and Kim were very professional and super knowledgeable. Working with Kim was great she absolutely adores German shepherds and had so much patience with Loki. I’m happy I have the tools now for Loki and I to have better communication and be able to do more fun things outside of the house. Thank you Dog Training Elite we will see you all in group!—
Posted August 11th 2023
Kim, and Jack are amazing trainers and even better people. Kim does amazing work with reactive dogs and really takes the time to listen to her clients and understand their specific needs. I would absolutly recommend them to anyone in need of training.—
Posted August 6th 2023
I highly recommend Dog Training Elite for all your dog training needs. I knew my dog had potential to become a Therapy Dog, however I needed some more knowledge in my training skills. DTE was able to work with me and help expand my training knowledge, and how to best communicate with my dog. We are have passed their Dog Therapy Test and absolutely love volunteering within the community. The best part about DTE is you become apart of a community, they are always willing to help in continuing your dog training knowledge after you have completed their program.—
Posted August 6th 2023
I tried to self train my dog, which went ok but we were not making the progress I wanted for her. Since we started training with DTE she has made exceptional progress after each season. Their entire group is dedicated to what is best for the dogs. Our experience has been wonderful!— Rae Beebe
Posted June 1st 2023
Training our service dog and cant believe how much progress we have seen in 3 months— Warren huggins
Posted April 23rd 2023
I have had the best experience training Milo from day one. I'm a first time pup owner and wanted a well behaved dog that I could take anywhere with no worries. We have gotten so much more than this from Dog Training Elite Des Moines! At the beginning, they gave Milo and I extra care coming to our home to work one-on-one. This helped make huge advances in his training. We switched to group classes where he's learned how to be a well behaved pup with other dogs and people around. Milo and I enjoyed our experience so much, I looked into Therapy Dog Training. About a year and a half later, Milo is getting ready to test to become certified. It is all thanks to the care, time, and continued personalized focus Jack, Cannady, and Morgan have provided us. I could not speak more highly! Would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for dog training!!— Sarah Meyer
Posted October 2nd 2022
I have had the best experience training Milo from day one. I'm a first time pup owner and wanted a well behaved dog that I could take anywhere with no worries. We have gotten so much more than this from Dog Training Elite Des Moines! At the beginning, they gave Milo and I extra care coming to our home to work one-on-one. This helped make huge advances in his training. We switched to group classes where he's learned how to be a well behaved pup with other dogs and people around. Milo and I enjoyed our experience so much, I looked into Therapy Dog Training. About a year and a half later, Milo is getting ready to test to become certified. It is all thanks to the care, time, and continued personalized focus Jack, Cannady, and Morgan have provided us. I could not speak more highly! Would absolutely recommend to anyone looking for dog training!!—
Posted October 2nd 2022
Morgan was amazing and very thorough with us. She made sure we felt comfortable with training before she left. Also they make themselves available anytime we need them.— April Page
Posted September 13th 2022
Jack has trained by dog since she was a puppy and made an incredible difference in her obedience and her overall demeanor. Jack is patient and a natural at what he does. He talks through the entire process and thoroughly explains the training technique, each step of the way. Jack and Cannady are both very professional and attentive to you and your animals needs. My puppy is now a certified therapy dog and I couldn't have done it without Jack and Cannady! They are the best!— Rebecca Schroeder
Posted September 6th 2022
Dog Training Elite has led us through the training process from basic obedience to Therapy Dog certification. They provided a great training environment for our puppy and convenient schedule that we could commit to in our busy life. It started with few individual lessons and when our dog was ready, he was invited to a group class and then to an advanced group class. The process took about 9 months from the start to certification. Dog Training Elite has an excellent team of trainers, that helped us learn many techniques for various commands. We are looking forward to start taking our certified dog to his job sites.—
Posted September 5th 2022
DTE has a compassionate, educated, and reliable staff who care about animals and their handlers. Because of the training with DTE I am able to love and care for my dog more responsibly and behaviors that were stress provoking are now eliminated. I highly recommend this service!—
Posted September 2nd 2022
Great trainers who are flexible in training. I am in a wheelchair and am training a service dog and Dog Training Elite was extremely helpful modifying the training and even had a trainer work one on one with my dog in group since I couldn’t train in the grass. Very happy with the training my service dog is getting.— Tom Ostwald
Posted August 24th 2022
I have enjoyed working with Dog Training Elite. They are very knowledgeable, and have given us the tools to best train our dog. We have seen huge improvements with our dog over the last 4 months.— Brittni Pierce
Posted August 24th 2022
They did a fantastic job with my baby bella during the day stay program. The transformation from crazy puppy to well-trained dog was incredible. Some behaviors that were difficult for us, like jumping on people, and walking on a leash. Pickup and drop off were seamless and they did a thorough job of explaining the process in the beginning and an excellent tutorial of how to keep up the training at the end of the training session, and we have a blast at the group sessions that you receive after, just a great atmosphere and great people— Rob Sirfus
Posted August 18th 2022
Awesome program and I highly recommend DTE. The results are well worth the investment! Must get the VA teamed with the program.— Brett Hora
Posted August 18th 2022
My pup, Fergus and I started with DTE Des Moines not quite a year ago. I had started on his basic obedience on my own, but unlike other dogs I’ve trained, I needed this one to be a cardiac alert service dog for myself. I was not willing to train with punishment rather than positive reinforcement and refused other trainers because of the use of inhumane shock collars as correction. DTE uses an e-collar that vibrates to get the dogs attention, but never to punish. Ever. I put the collar on myself more than once and adjusted the vibrations to know exactly how it feels. It does not hurt the dog in any way, so I moved forward. Fergus is a mix of 2 breeds that are not known for having good sniffers, as needed for cardiac alert training, but our trainer said, “I’ll never give up on a dog. Fergus might be able to do it , and we can try if you want to put in the time and move forward”. Wow! Complete honesty at the risk of losing a potential client! So, 10 months ago we started scent training while also teaching what he needs to know to be capable in any public setting. It turns out his nose is good enough! I’m so grateful that DTE Des Moines believes in all dogs and their potential, while giving us the knowledge to work with our dogs daily to build trust and the skills needed to help those of us who need them. They are knowledgeable, patient, kind, encouraging and put a lot of thought into which approaches to take with each unique team to be as successful as possible. Whether you need simple obedience or more advanced work, I can’t recommend them highly enough. You can tell they love what they do, and they do it well! DTE Des Moines, thank you for believing in me and Fergus. We are incredibly grateful!— Heidi Katzenbach
Posted July 29th 2022
DTE Des Moines has given us the tools to work with our now 8 month old Golden Doodle and enjoy walks, outings, visitors to the house, and other dogs with a well behaved pup. The trainers are extremely knowledgeable and very patient teaching pet owners the techniques. My husband and I signed our pup up for one week training in the office at DTE, Jack came to our home a few weeks later to help us fix some challenges we were having with the heel command, and now we are enjoying the group classes. All we’ve gained through their training has been more than I thought possible and well worth the investment. I recommend DTE Des Moines to everyone I know wanting to work on behaviors with their dog.— Nancy Walker
Posted June 25th 2022
Proud Sponsor of The Malinois Foundation
At Dog Training Elite Des Moines, we believe that Service Dogs save lives. It is our mission to make these life-saving companions available to our Veterans, First Responders, Women Survivors, and Children with Medical Needs. Whether it be for PTSD, Mobility Support, or Special Needs, Dog Training Elite Des Moines work's with the Malinois Foundation to heal and empower these individuals with a specialized service animal, a partner in life, and a new best friend.