Last weekend, Ronon and I participated in a screening for a group called HOPE AACR. HOPE deploys volunteer canine/human teams to critical incidents across the country to make the benefits of therapy dogs available to anyone who needs it — victims, survivors, first responders, etc.
Teams who passed the screening would be invited to a three-day training workshop in May, with the possibility of joining HOPE afterward.
Ronon and I were not invited to continue the process.
The Screening Process
The screening consisted of several parts: an interview, a five-minute separation of the canine from the handler, a basic obedience test, role-playing in four scenarios, and a 15-minute crate test. With the exception of the crate test, each part was to be graded on a point scale and added to the overall score.
The only part I was worried about was the crate test. Ronon does fine in a crate at home or at the Opportunity Barks Farm, but I knew he’d struggle with being crated in a strange place while I was out of sight for 15 minutes. Still, I figured he’d do fine on everything else, and we could keep chipping away at the crate time.
Then I found out where the screening would be, and that gave me a second thing to worry about. The screening was held at a doggy daycare and boarding facility. Anyone who knows Ronon knows that he LOVES daycare.
Ronon is incredibly situationally aware. When I put his therapy dog harness on him, he knows he’s going to work. When we get to any of the places we visit, he jumps out of the car and prances in, ready for the loving. When I take him to daycare or somewhere he gets to run, he BOLTS out of the car, primed and ready for the massive zoomies he’s about to have. He even goes to daycare when we’re on vacation, so there was no way he was getting out of the car at a daycare facility without thinking it was go-time.
The screening was in Freedom, PA — 320 miles from home. We needed to be there by 8:30 Saturday morning, so we reserved a house in Pittsburgh and made a long weekend of it.
Arrival and First Impressions
We arrived at the facility on Saturday morning, and Ronon reacted exactly as I expected in the parking lot. Poor dude was sure it was play time. Unfortunately, a HOPE volunteer was outside and saw him being anything but calm. As expected though, he was perfect once we got inside. He hung out while I set up his crate. Once the interview started, he laid down next to me and just chilled.
The interview went alright. I’m uncomfortable talking about myself, so I’m sure I said dorky things. Most of the questions about Ronon were standard fare, but a few were… weird. They asked if he had prejudices against any breeds of dogs. I’m not sure what that has to do with being a therapy dog since the only times dogs are around each other, they’re on leash and working, but I answered. No, he doesn’t. I’ve actually observed the opposite: other dogs being afraid of Ronon at first because he “looks scary.” They also asked about his breed mix and whether I’ve had him DNA tested. Lots of people ask that though, so I didn’t think much of it.
The five-minute separation went as expected. He was a very good boy and sat right next to the evaluator. She said he was “laser focused” on the door until I returned, but he didn’t move.
The obedience portion was a breeze. It included a neutral dog distraction, sit, down, stay, come, and loose leash walking. All five dogs being screened performed well.
The Chaos, The Crowd, and Then the Crate
Next were the role-playing scenarios, during which insane amounts of noise were generated by multiple phones and people around the room. There were four scenarios that we cycled through. Two stand out in my mind. One was a very angry lady and another was an inconsolable crying lady. I was unsure of what to do in each situation, but Ronon did great. He’s trained to only approach people after I’ve given him the go ahead. He waited for me to say hello to each person and then he moved in. With the angry lady, he offered calming signals. When that didn’t work, I told him to try again while I talked to her. He moved in slowly and leaned on her. I don’t know if that would’ve helped in a real situation, but Ronon thought it was worth a shot. During each scenario, a crowd would move in and pet Ronon all at once. (He liked that better than the screaming and crying people.)
The crying lady had her head on her knees, so Ronon went under her hair and sniffed her face to see how she would respond. When she ignored him, he backed up, unsure of what to do. I wasn’t sure either, so we took a few steps back, circled around, and tried again. This time, he laid down near her feet and looked up at her until she paid attention to him. The noises and chaos didn’t seem to bother him at all. I thought he did great.
After the role-playing scenarios, there was a 15-minute crate test. They reassured me that it wouldn’t be factored into the score, which was good because Ronon only made it through about half the test and then broke out of his brand new travel crate. The evaluator who brought him outside to me, said he led them on a merry chase around the room before they caught him. Well, he finally got his play time, I guess.
Not Their Kind of Dog?
After the crate test, they brought us back in for the results of the screening. Honestly, I got the impression they couldn’t dismiss Ronon and me fast enough. The gist of their reasoning was that Ronon doesn’t enjoy therapy dog work and that he’s tense around other dogs. They said he wasn’t engaged during the role-playing and they asked if he actually enjoys the work that we currently do. I said I wouldn’t want to get involved in anything with Ronon that he didn’t enjoy.
They mentioned a couple of times that he’s a ‘high-drive’ dog, which I believe is a mischaracterization based on his appearance. Then they said he seemed on edge around the other dogs, which I saw zero evidence of. He ignored every dog in the room, just like he’s supposed to. And when we were outside on breaks, he sat next to me while I talked to other participants and their dogs. He didn’t react at all. Even if he had, it would have been because he wanted to play, not because he was uncomfortable. I’ve watched him interact with new dogs – both on leash and off, on walks, at daycare, in training classes, and at Fast CAT events – enough times to know he wasn’t worried about the other dogs in the room.
At that point, they handed me our evaluation form and rushed us out. Once I got in the car, I started thinking. Am I doing all the wrong things with Ronon? Does he not enjoy this? Should we quit? I was sad and second-guessing my choices during the drive back to the rental in Pittsburgh. Once we got there though, I had a long talk with my sister and a text conversation with a friend who is very familiar with HOPE. Both of them know Ronon and, independently, both wondered if the evaluators were misreading him due to his “wolfy” looks. As my sister says, he’s “tall and pointy, unlike most therapy dogs.”
While I was talking to them, I looked at the evaluation form. The evaluators hadn’t even finished filling it out. They didn’t indicate his scores or even sign it. For the time and money I spent preparing and participating, they could have at least filled out the form.
What’s Next?
I feel like Ronon didn’t fit the mold of what the evaluators are used to seeing. Most (maybe all) of the HOPE dogs are retrievers, labs, or other fluffy, neotenous breeds. Ronon is the complete opposite: a primitive-type dog. My friend said she can’t remember ever seeing a HOPE dog at an incident with prick ears.
I can’t say for sure that we were dismissed due to breed-type prejudice. But I can say for certain that I’m proud of Ronon. Other than pulling on leash outside of the screening and not tolerating the 15-minute crate test, he performed well.
I’m still frustrated by how the screening went, but I’ve had time to think about it — and I’m not quitting. Ronon led us into this work to begin with, by seeking attention and being such a people-oriented dog. As long as he continues to show me he enjoys it, we’ll keep doing it.
Matter of fact, Ronon and I spent two hours at the airport last night, and he definitely enjoyed it.
