Therapy

You know your Beardies and how they like to make you laugh? Imagine what they do for people who really need an emotional lift!

These dogs encourage smiles and laughter, provide help in forgetting pain, relieve boredom and offer unlimited, unconditional love and attention in hospitals, nursing homes, schools for autistic children and many more health facilities. These remarkable dogs help Alzheimer’s patients come into reality, lower blood pressure, brighten someone’s day, help with physical therapy and change lives. This is another area at which our beardies excel.

This kind of work is mentally and emotionally challenging for the dogs and their partners. The beardies must tolerate unusual noises, rolling carts, wheelchairs, rough handling, and other unexpected situations. Their partners have to have patience, a sense of humor and a deep passion for helping others.

Therapy work is rewarding and bittersweet. You get attached to the people you visit knowing that on any given day you may walk into their room and they won’t be there. We’ve seen a significant increase in beardies doing therapy work and we’re certain this trend will continue.

This FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) article explains the roles of service dogs with regard to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and other topics related to service animals.

BCCA Therapy Dog Certificates

BCCA no longer offers Therapy Dog certificates, now that AKC has its own Therapy Dog Awards program. For more information about AKC’s program, look here.

Eligibility for BCCA Therapy Dog Awards

To qualify for a BCCA award, at least one owner of the Bearded Collie must be a BCCA member in good standing. In the case of a junior handler, at least one family member (including grandparents/aunts/uncles) of the junior handler must be a BCCA member in good standing.

The Andrew Award

The Andrew Award is given to the Beardie/owner team who completes the most service visits in a given year.

The Avery Award

The Avery Award honors the memory of 11-year-old Avery Dudasch, who showed great courage, hope, and faith in her battle with cancer. A certificate will be presented annually at the BCCA National Specialty Awards Banquet to any Bearded Collie and his/her handler, who have performed pet therapy visiting ill children (at a hospital setting) during the previous calendar year. To be eligible, the dog must be certified through a therapy organization that requires certification and carries liability insurance (e.g. Delta Society/Pet Partners, Therapy Dogs International, Therapy Dogs, Inc.) and the handler must be a BCCA member in good standing. Additional eligibility requirements can be found under Standing Rule 07/08-03. The BCCA Therapy Committee will be responsible for verifying recipients of this award each year.

The Casey Award

The BCCA will recognize any physically challenged OR rescue Bearded Collie doing therapy work by issuing a Casey Award at the National Specialty Awards Banquet. This award is in memory of Casey, who overcame his early life in a puppy mill and an injury which cost him a leg, to become a much beloved therapy dog to thousands of people. To be eligible, dogs must have some sort of physical challenge (e.g. missing a limb, deaf, blind) OR be a rescue Beardie. In addition, the dog must be certified through a therapy organization that requires certification and carries liability insurance (e.g. Delta Society/Pet Partners, Therapy Dogs International, Therapy Dogs, Inc.) and the handler must be a BCCA member in good standing. This certificate will be given to the same dog only once.