Why Labs Make Great Therapy Dogs

Know more about one of the world’s most favorite breed: the Labrador.

One reason why labs are usually trained as therapy or service dogs is because of their intelligence. They’re also easy to train, and have a very loving personality.

Therapy dogs are not service or assistance dogs. They do not provide help like service dogs; rather they are trained to deal socially with people.

We’ve summarized why a lab is definitely one of the top choices for therapy dogs in the excerpt below:

A therapy dog must be highly sociable because he will be dealing frequently with people.

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Labs will continually seek human companionship and affection and will try their very best to please their master and other members of the family. While their friendliness is a given, they are trained to get used to dealing with people on wheelchairs, crutches, or canes and to behave appropriately in the presence of other dogs within unfamiliar environments.

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A Lab’s temperament makes it an excellent candidate for therapy dog training. People may try to handle them clumsily but a good therapy dog will have utmost patience and tolerance not because they will be punished but because they enjoy human camaraderie.

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Patients will always look forward to visits from a therapy dog. A Lab’s sunny disposition is infectious, radiating to every person it comes in contact with. The Lab’s gentleness and outgoing personality make them perfect for chasing away the loneliness and depression that often clouds these patients’ everyday lives.

You can check the full article here.
Image credit: Marvin Kuo