Links to External Resources

Best Friends Dog Training
Located in Ottawa’s Hunt Club East area, Best Friends offers a specialty program called “Therapy Dog School”. This course will help aspiring therapy dog teams to understand and function in a pet visitation role. Training exercises prepare dogs for Canine Good Citizen/Canine Good Neighbour testing, a common first step in therapy dog certification. www.bfdogtraining.ca

The Training Hall
The Training Hall is located in Ottawa’s west end, just off Carp Road north of Stittsville. In addition to a number of dog training program options, the Training Hall offers mini-seminars on interesting dog-related topics on selected Friday evenings. www.thetraininghall.com

Delta Society
Delta Society®, the Human-Animal Connection’s mission is to improve human health through service and therapy animals. The Society's goals are to expand awareness of the positive effect animals can have on human health and development; remove barriers that prevent involvement of animals in everyday life; and expand the therapeutic and service role of animals in human health, service, and education. www.deltasociety.org

Canada's Guide to Dogs
The Canada's Guide to Dogs website is a comprehensive information and resource site for all dog enthusiasts. The site includes detailed breed information; listings of breeders, kennels, clubs, groomers, trainers, shelter and rescue organizations; information on health and nutrition; a section dedicated to the working dog; dog sports and activities; and much, much more.

Through continuous content development, updating, and maintenance of the site, along with site promotion and marketing, we are dedicated to achieving our goal of building the most comprehensive and complete dog related site in Canada and being the number ONE place to go on the Internet for dog related information, not only for Canadians but for people all over the world. www.canadasguidetodogs.com

Responsible Dog Owners of Canada (RDOC) 
Responsible Dog Owners of Canada (RDOC) is a registered, non-profit, national volunteer organization. Through education, RDOC is working to build and support a network of responsible dog owners, raise awareness of dogs and their behaviour and facilitate the restoration and preservation of a dog-friendly society. RDOC hosts educational programs like:

• the Canadian Canine Good Citizenship Test™ (CCGCT™),
• the “Be A Tree”  Dog Bite Prevention Program,
• the Dog Owner Training School (D.O.T.S.),
• DOG-Ed and other programs designed to foster responsible dog ownership.

Canadian Foundation for Animal Assisted Support Services
Supports the innovation, coordination, and integration of Animal-Assisted Support Services within Canada's health-care, social services, and justice sectors. Its mission is to ensure the sustainability, credibility, and availability of Animal Assisted Support Services by supporting related charities and those they serve. Goals: To unite Animal Assisted Support Services stakeholders to identify core values and common priorities to stimulate collaborative action in the spirit of cooperation and inclusiveness; and to inspire a consistent level of quality, safety, and satisfaction of those served. www.cf4aass.org

Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta
Started in 1994, Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta promotes pet therapy within the city of Edmonton and surrounding area. The Society acts as an advocacy group and a referral agency that helps connect volunteers and facilities, and also offers a number of educational and community service programs. www.pettherapysociety.com

Caring Canine: Dog Therapy Volunteering in Toronto
Caring Canine is a non-profit organization providing free dog-therapy service to communities in Toronto. All members at Caring Canine are pure volunteers who bring their therapy dogs (Dr. Dogs) to visit elders, patients, and people with disabilities at various healthcare facilities. Many volunteers are bilingual, which allows Caring Canine to serve elders who are not fluent in English as well as dementia patients who have forgotten all languages except for their native tongue. www.caringcanine.ca

Société de zoothérapie de Drummondville
Société de zoothérapie is a non-profit organization active within the city of Drummondville and its outer suburbs where an active pet visiting program for residents of institutions for seniors, persons with disabilites, and young offenders has been in place since 1989. The Society promotes the importance of the human-animal bond through education, research and the publication (in French) of relevant documentation.
www.zootherapie.com

Therapeutic Paws of Canada
Enhancing quality of life and health through the animal/human bond. A non-profit organization of volunteers providing animal resources for human needs (physical, mental, educational, motivational, socialization) through regular visits to hospitals, residences, schools, etc. www.tpoc.ca

Intermountain Therapy Animals
Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA) is Utah’s oldest and largest organization providing animal-assisted therapy. It is a non-profit organization bringing animal resources to human needs. ITA specializes in providing animal-assisted therapy in the areas of physical, occupational, speech and psychotherapies, as well as special education. www.therapyanimals.org

Therapy Dogs of Vermont
Therapy Dogs of Vermont (TDV) is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization of highly-trained dogs and their handlers. The handler/canine teams work on the emotional health of patients in hospitals and residents of nursing and retirement homes. TDV has a large membership throughout the state of Vermont and in some areas of New Hampshire. www.therapydogs.org