Getting Ready
for the Skills and Aptitude Tests

Here are some tips to help you and your potential therapy animal go through the skills test and aptitude tests as easily, comfortably and stress-free as possible.

The evaluation is divided into two parts. The first part determines if your animal has the basic skills necessary to work safely in facilities (e.g., does the animal readily accept grooming by a stranger?). The second part assesses the aptitude of the animal for AAA/AAT (e.g., does the animal readily accept petting by several people at once?).

Come Prepared

• Be sure to sign up for a specific appointment for your evaluation before the day of the test. It will take approximately 20-25 minutes to test each animal.
• Wear comfortable clothing. Do not wear open-toed shoes. Rubber-soled shoes will provide you with good traction.
• Your animal should come for testing groomed just the way you would do it to get it ready for a visit. You can find out about appropriate grooming procedures during the training workshop, If you don't have access to the training workshop yet, call the Intermountain Therapy Animals office for appropriate grooming guidelines.
• Ensure that your animal is free of fleas and ticks.
• Feed your animal on a schedule that will ensure it will be comfortable during the evaluation.
• If your animal is on antibiotics, or otherwise doesn't feel its best, reschedule its evaluation for another day.
• Bring current proof of license and vaccination records. You must have your rabies certificate; just the tag is not sufficient.
• If you will be staying awhile, bring a crate or some other method of safely restraining your dog.
• Definitely bring a carrier, cage, basket, etc. for your rabbit, bird, cat, etc.
• Buckle or slip collars or harnesses are acceptable. No prong, pinch or head collars are allowed before or during the tests.
• It is recommended that the leash be 6' - 8' long. No "Flexi" or other retractable leashes are allowed during the testing.
• We will have a designated "relief" area, but please be prepared to clean up after your animal.
• You are welcome to observe other evaluations, but please do not interfere or cause distractions. Your own animal must be crated and wait away from the testing area so it will not distract animals being tested.
• If your dog is in heat, please reschedule its evaluation for another day!

During the Testing

• Only those animals being evaluated will be allowed on the premises.
• The evaluation will be stopped if the animal becomes stressed or if it behaves inappropriately during the evaluation or on the premises.
• We repeat: no "Flexi" or other retractable leashes are allowed during the testing.
• No treats are permitted for your animal during the testing.
• An animal will not be evaluated more than once in the same day if it fails the evaluation. You are certainly welcome to have your animal retested at a later date.
• Animals must be restrained by leash, harness, carrier or other appropriate manner at all times.
• The person who will work with the animal must accompany it during the evaluation; if, for example, both a husband and wife want to work as therapy animal teams with their animal, each must go through the testing with their animal.
• The evaluation begins when you arrive on the premises and stops when you leave.

Other Important Details

• Animals must be at least one year of age to be registered. You may go ahead with testing if your animal is slightly younger, but it must be one year old before it can begin working.
• Refunds will be given for animals who become ill (documentation required). No refunds will be given for animals who do not pass the evaluation.
• No inhumane treatment of animals will be allowed on the grounds of the evaluation facility.
• The evaluation facility is accessible for those with disabilities.
• The use of prong and pinch collars is prohibited.
  

What, Specifically, Will You and Your Animal Have to Do During the Test?

Essentials: You must pass all these skill-test items to qualify:

• Your dog must be accepting of a friendly stranger and be willing to sit politely for petting. Must also be clean, healthy and well-groomed.
• Your dog must be willing to go "out for a walk" with you on a loose lead -no pulling or dragging! Then you must both walk through a crowd, also on a loose leash, and be subjected to several visual and noise distractions without your dog panicking, becoming aggressive or too submissive.
• Basic obedience: your dog will have to do a sit, a down, a stay-in-place, and a come-when-called. It must be able to meet a neutral dog without overreacting.

Aptitudes: You may score "not ready" on no more than three of these and still pass:

• Generally, these items relate to people, equipment and situations that you and your animal may encounter while doing therapy visits. Your dog must not object to a thorough, all-over handling by a stranger (fingers in mouth, on tail, feet, etc.), a restraining hug, a staggering, gesturing individual, angry yelling going on, crowded petting, wheelchairs, walkers, etc. Your dog must also be willing to be held by a stranger for two minutes while you disappear. This test grades for overall sociability and observes carefully how much your dog is enjoying this sort of activity. We do not want to try to do good in the world if it means making our animal companions miserable.

These test items are primarily for dogs. If you have some other animal, there will be some variation in the procedures to accommodate species differences.

You may have questions after reading this information. Please feel free to contact us and ask for more detailed responses if you are unsure about what you have read above.

Thanks for your interest! Animal-assisted therapy is an idea whose time has come, and if you and your companion animal decide to join us in doing this work, you will have much joy ahead of you.