Contact us

Have a question? View our FAQ's to see if the answer is below. 

info@ottawatherapydogs.ca

Emails are answered during regular office hours, Mondays to Fridays.

613-261-6834

99-1568 Merivale Road, Suite 369

Ottawa ON K2G 5Y7

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Frequently Asked Questions

I am looking for a service dog or want my dog to be trained as a service dog.

Ottawa Therapy Dogs does not work with service dogs or personal/emotional support dogs. We are a Therapy Dog organization and our therapy dog teams involve a handler with their own dog that have been evaluated together as a team, and are then registered and insured with OTD to volunteer in partner facilities (such as CHEO and the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre). Click here to view a comparison on how therapy dogs differ from service dogs. Here is a great way to understand the difference: A service dog is trained to work with YOU for YOU. A therapy dog is trained to work with YOU for OTHERS. We recommend visiting these organizations for guidance on service dogs: Canadian Foundation for Animal Assisted Support Services Email: community@Cf4aass.org Assistance Dogs International



Do you offer visits to private homes?

Regrettably, we do not have the resources to fulfill individual requests for Therapy Dog visits. Additionally, the safety of our volunteers is paramount, therefore we do not send them to private residences. All of our volunteer therapy dog teams regularly visit only our pre-approved health care, educational and social service facilities.



Do you offer one-time visits to public organizations/workplaces?

Given that we are a volunteer-based organization, we may be able to accommodate one-time visits based on the capacity and availability of our volunteer teams. If you would like more information, please contact us and provide information including the space set-up, participants and the date/time options. We would need to meet with you to see the space to determine whether it is risk-free for our volunteer teams and conducive to therapy dog interactions.