Why Does Alliance of Therapy Dogs Require Retesting?

What are Alliance of Therapy Dogs’ (ATD) Retesting Requirements?

ATD requires teams to be retested if they have not made and logged a visit within 3 months of their previous visit. If you have gone over 3 months, but less than 6 months since your last logged visit, you are required to complete the ATD Handling Assessment and 1 Observation with an ATD Tester/Observer (T/O) using the current year’s ATD Certification Test paperwork. If you have gone longer than 6 months since your last logged visit, you are required to complete the full ATD Certification Test (the Handling Assessment and 3-4 Observations) with an ATD T/O using the current year’s ATD Certification Test paperwork. When you have not made or logged a visit within the required timeframe, you become an inactive team and your insurance is suspended until you are successfully retested and the ATD Office approves your paperwork.

Why Does ATD Require Retesting?

Retesting may seem redundant and inconvenient, but for the safety of everyone involved it’s important that an ATD T/O observes you and your dog together. Regular visits help keep our dogs acclimated. If you and your dog have not made a visit in more than 3 months, your dog may have developed some sensitivities or issues you may not be aware of. Retesting is how ATD assesses you and your dog to make sure everyone is still comfortable during their visit.

There may be times when you and your dog cannot make a visit within 3 months and will need to be retested. Those reasons may include (but are not limited to) maternity leave and/or recovering from an illness or injury for you and/or your dog, going away to school, or extended travel. These are all big life events that can impact the way you and/or your dog feel during a therapy visit. It’s important to get reevaluated after these big changes to make sure you and your dog still work well together.

Why Does ATD Have a Visit Requirement?

ATD has a visit requirement for several reasons: to continue to offer therapy dog visits to as many people and facilities as possible, to keep our teams active and working, and to help our teams know what ATD expects of its volunteers.

ATD insures more than 19,000 active therapy dog teams. Our testing process helps us determine if a team can perform their therapy visits in a safe manner. Our insurance company trusts that our teams follow the ATD Rules and Regulations and keep safety as their first priority. Our insurance agent stresses the importance of no claims. Following ATD’s Rules and Regulations, including the minimum visit and retesting rules, is the best way to achieve the goal of no claims. Active teams are more likely to notice when something is off with either themselves or their dogs.

Does ATD Make Exceptions?

ATD does not make exceptions to any of our rules for any of our Members, including T/Os. Our insurance company expects us to hold every ATD Member to the same standard. Not following ATD rules will result in your insurance policy being nullified and putting not only you and your dog at risk of liability should an incident occur, but also the facility and ATD. If you have questions about something that has happened on a visit or an ATD Rule, please contact the ATD Office. You can email the Office at office@therapydogs.com or call them at 307-432-0272.