Volunteering With Your Dog | Ottawa Therapy Dogs

VOLUNTEERING WITH YOUR DOG AS A THERAPY DOG TEAM

The safety of our visitors and volunteer teams is of utmost importance to Ottawa Therapy Dogs. To mitigate risk, we have a comprehensive recruitment process for prospective volunteers to ensure our visits are safe and effective.

If you feel that you and your dog may be interested in becoming a volunteer therapy dog team with Ottawa Therapy Dogs, please read carefully and follow these steps thoroughly to gain a complete understanding of the requirements and process to qualify for this incredible and unique volunteer opportunity.

**At this time we are only recruiting volunteers with at least one full week day of availability**

Preliminary Steps

Step 1:
Read the document: "Volunteering With Your Dog" (Click to download PDF)

Step 2:
Watch this video to understand how dogs give consent to petting. (Click to watch video)

Step 3:
Read OTD's Test Requirements. (Click to download PDF)

Step 4:
Watch this video to see a demonstration of all the test requirements of the Evaluation that you and your dog must pass. (Click to view video)

Step 5:
Complete the OTD Self-Assessment.
It is mandatory to submit this form before registering for our Information Session.

Step 6:
Register for our next Information Session
Attendance is mandatory in order to proceed to
the next steps.
Our next session will be in June - date TBD.

What happens after the Information Session?

(Click on the chart for more details)

Steps to becoming an OTD team (Jan. 2026 update) (1).png

VOLUNTEERING WITH YOUR DOG AS A THERAPY DOG TEAM

Preliminary Steps

Step 1: Read the document: "Volunteering With Your Dog" (Click to download PDF)

Step 2: Watch this video to understand how dogs give consent to petting. (Click to watch video)

Step 3: Read OTD's Test Requirements. (Click to download PDF)

Step 4: Watch this video to see a demonstration of all the test requirements of the Evaluation that you and your dog must pass. (Click to view video)

Step 5: Complete the OTD Self-Assessment. It is mandatory to submit this form before registering for our Information Session.

Step 6: Register for our next Information Session Attendance is mandatory in order to proceed to the next steps. Our next session will be in June - date TBD.