We're looking for people who want to write and submit a blog post or a recent work of art to be shared on HP's Tumblr!

Type of things we're looking for:

Bump!

maybe reach out to equ? i know she was doing a blog about animal care? 

i could also write about when to know its time to contact your vet about your cats diarehaa, but i dont think anyone would care about that xD

I’d love to write a post! :D

Phism I LOL'd at that omg I can only imgaine what you went through for that to be a topic...

I just LOL'd so hard at Phism's post xD Bless your heart that had to have been awful! 

I can write a post about the joys of having a service/therapy dog! If that counts as something you'd like for the blog? 

That would be great! :).

I'd be interested in reading that, since I eventually want to get Sookie working as a therapy dog and registered as my ESA!

Link Tree

5 things you should know about a Therapy Dog 

1. Therapy Dogs are Service Animals. They are required to go through training and get certified. 

And, They are allowed to go anywhere with you provided that they are wearing their vest and you can provide proof of your certification. I recommend just having a folder to keep in your purse or bag to always have on hand. 

This goes without saying, but I am going to say it anyways, do NOT pet someone's therapy or service animal without direct permission. It may seem innocent, but that distraction could be preventing that dog from noticing a life threatening alert. 

2. Not every dog is a therapy dog or can be used as a therapy dog. 

One of the biggest misunderstandings is that any dog can be a therapy dog. Unfortunately, this isn't true. Therapy dogs have to have a certain demeanor/tempermant. The dog also has to be trainable. You want your dog to be highly sociable with people and with other animals, but they also need to be able to maintain focus when training or "on the job". 

Most training (with my experience) has been done through programs at local hospitals. The training costs around $100, so do be prepared for that. You also have to buy the vest/tags for the dog as well. 

3. Therapy dogs can be used for a variety of issues. 
They can be used to help with Anxiety, Depression, and other mental illnesses and disabilities. You can also use them in hospitals and schools to help combat mental illnesses and disabilities or just to raise awareness. 

4. Therapy Dogs do not train the same way as Service Animals. 

Service dogs are trained to be guide dogs, medical alert dogs, or search dogs. They have a service that they are providing. Therapy Dogs are trained to help calm down anxiety or to boost your happiness to combat depression. They are there to comfort and support and provide therapy. 

5. They are the best souls around. 

Therapy dogs can be used for a wide range of things and can come in a wide range of breeds. The best thing to remember is to treat that animal as if it were a person on a job, so with respect. They are working to help their owner. 

Examples of "popular" therapy Dogs: 
Stella! (insert youtube channel link here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ApwimsR44 ) Stella is Comedian Drew Lynch's service dog. She helps him with a variety of day to day tasks. Drew was a professional baseball player when he fly ball caught him in throat which then lead to a speech impediment. He has a slight stutter, but he doesn't let that stop him from bringing joy to everyone around him. 






(I have never written for a blog before so let me know how all of this sounds!) 

that sounds awesome! great job on the article!