Since the 1980’s, there have been significant advances in the field of animal assisted therapy and the use of therapy dogs. Organized therapy dog groups provide educational material to volunteers, they screen both volunteers and dogs, and they provide liability insurance for when the dog and handler are volunteering in a therapy setting.
Therapy dog certification organizations are the experts in this field. It is their dedication that has organized and advanced the work of therapy dogs and their efforts should be acknowledged and appreciated. The following certification organizations are recognized by the AKC. A dog must be certified by one of these organizations to be eligible to receive the AKC Therapy Dog title.
AKC would like to thank the following national therapy dog registration/certification organizations for their assistance during the launching of the AKC Therapy Dog title:
- Alliance of Therapy Dogs (formerly Therapy Dogs, Inc.)
- Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs
- Love on a Leash
- Pet Partners (previously Delta Society)
- Therapy Dogs Incorporated (TD Inc.) – new name is Alliance of Therapy Dogs
- Therapy Dogs International
Therapy Groups Listed Alphabetically
- 4Paws Learning and Wellness Center (San Francisco & greater North Bay area)
- Aggieland Pets With A Purpose (Brazos Valley area, TX)
- Alliance of Therapy Pets (Springfield, MO area)
- A New Leash on Life, Inc.
- Animal Assisted Therapy SPCA of Solano County (Solano County, CA)
- Animals 4 Therapy (Colorado)
- Animal Friends Connection Humane Society (San Joaquin County, CA)
- Animal Friends Therapets (Southwestern PA)
- Animal Samaritans (Palm Springs area, CA)
- American Therapy Pets (greater San Diego, CA area)
- Austin Dog Alliance (Greater Austin, TX)
- BARK (Beach Animals Reading with Kids) (California, Arizona)
- Baylor Health Care System Animal Assisted Therapy
- BC Pets and Friends (lower British Columbia)
- Blue Ribbon Therapy Dogs (Quebec, Canada)
- Blue Ridge Mountain Therapy Dogs of VA (Virginia)
- Bright Spot Therapy Dogs, Inc. (western Massachusetts)
- Canine Assisted Therapy (Florida)
- Canine Caregivers (Salisbury, NC area)
- Canines for Christ (U.S.; other countries)
- Canines for Christ of Greater Cincinnati (OH)
- Canine Therapy Corps (Chicago)
- Caring Animal Partners, Inc. (NH and VT)
- Caring Canines, LTD (northern CO)
- Caring Canines Therapy Dog Club of Southern VT (southern VT)
- Caring Canines Therapy Dogs, Inc. (Lake County, FL)
- Caring Critters, Inc. (Houston Metropolitan area)
- Caring Hearts Pet Therapy (Greater Harrisburg, Greater Lancaster)
- Caring K9s, Inc. (West Central FL)
- Carolina Canines for Service (Wilmington, NC)
- CHAMP Assistance and Therapy Dogs, Inc. (Greater St. Louis)
- Champs Foundation (Broken Arrow/Tulsa, OK area)
- Comfort Caring Canines Therapy Dogs, Inc. (southeastern PA, NJ, DE, MD)
- Companion Animal Association of AZ., Inc. (Greater Phoenix, Maricopa County)
- Companion Animal Program (Cape Cod, MA)
- Companions, Inc. (Fairbanks, AK)
- Cornell Companions (Ithaca, NY)
- Creature Comfort Pet Therapy (northern New Jersey)
- Creatures and Kids, Inc. (Oklahoma)
- Divine Canines (Greater Austin, TX)
- DogAbility Therapy Dogs (Long Island, NY)
- Dog B.O.N.E.S. Therapy Dogs of Massachusetts
- Dogs On Call (DOC): An Easter Seals Program (central and southeastern Alabama)
- Dogs on Duty (Greater St. Louis, MO)
- Dogs With a Purpose (Triangle area, NC)
- Domesti-PUPS (southeast NE & MO)
- Fairfax Pets on Wheels (Fairfax County, VA)
- Faithful Friends AAT Ministry (Clear Lake, League City, TX and surrounding areas)
- Faithful Friends Pet Therapy (DE and southeast PA)
- Faithful Paws Pet Therapy (Houston, TX)
- Federación Canófila de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
- Fidos for Freedom (Baltimore, Greater Washington)
- Fox Valley Therapy Dogs (Kendall, Kane, Dupage, Will counties-IL)
- FURever As Friends (Gloucester County, New Jersey)
- Furry Friends Pet Assisted Therapy Services (California — San Jose and Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties)
- Furry Friends Recovery (St. Louis, MO)
- Furry Friends Therapy Dogs, Inc. (Coos County, OR)
- Gainesville Canine Training Club (Gainesville, TX)
- Gabriel Institute (Pierce County, WA)
- Go Team Therapy, Crisis and Airport Dogs, Inc (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
- H.A.B.I.T. (Human Animal Bond in Tennessee)
- Happy Tails Pet Therapy (Atlanta)
- Hawaiian Humane Society (Hawaii)
- Healing Heart Therapy Dogs , Inc. (Nebraska)
- HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response (national program)
- Howard County Paws for Comfort (MD)
- Hudson Valley Paws for a Cause (Hudson Valley, NY)
- Human Animal Link of Oklahoma Foundation (HALO) (Oklahoma)
- Humane Hearts Pet Therapy (Forsyth County (GA) area)
- Humane Society of Broward County (FL)
- Humane Society of Greater Miami (Miami, FL area)
- Humane Society of Southern Arizona Pet VIP Program (southern AZ)
- Independence Service (and Therapy) Dogs Foundation (Southern CA)
- Independent Therapy Dogs, Incorporated (Select cities in CA, NV, and WA. See web page.)
- Intermountain Therapy Animals and the Reading Education Assistance Dogs® (R.E.A.D. ®)
- K-9 Caring Angels (Fairfax County, VA)
- Kathleen C. Cailloux Humane Society of Kerrville (Kerrville, TX)
- KPETS-Keystone Pet Enhanced Therapy Services (southeast/central PA, northeast MD)
- Lend A Heart Animal Assisted Therapy (Greater Sacramento, CA)
- Lend A Paw Therapy Dogs (Greater Los Angeles/Santa Clarita, CA)
- Lincolnshire Animal Hospital Therapy Dog Group (NE Illinois area)
- Literacy Education Assistance Pups (L.E.A.P.) (Delaware, Salisbury, MD)
- Love on 4 Paws (Greater Los Angeles, CA)
- Loving Animals Providing Smiles – LAPS (Napa, CA)
- Lutheran Medical Center Pet Therapy (Greater Denver,CO)
- Lux Love Therapy Dogs (Las Vegas area)
- Marin Humane Society SHARE (Marin County, CA)
- Masonic Association of Service & Therapy Dogs (Greater Chicago area)
- Miami Valley Pet Therapy Association (MVPTA) (Dayton, Ohio and surrounding counties)
- Micheal’s Angel Paws (Las Vegas area)
- Mid-Michigan Therapy Dogs (Flint, MI area)
- National Capital Therapy Dogs, Inc. (Washington DC, Baltimore, eastern MD, southern VA, Delmarva region)
- Nature Coast Therapy Dogs (Western Central Fl)
- New York Therapy Animals, Inc. (NYC and boroughs)
- Ohio 4-H Pet Pals (state of Ohio)
- Olympic Mountain Pet Pals
- Orange County SCPA PAWS (Orange County, CA)
- Pals for Life (Philadelphia area)
- Patchogue Rotary AAT, Inc. (Long Island, NY)
- PawPals (Greater Tulsa, OK Metro)
- Paws4people Foundation
- Pawsabilities Unleashed (Frankfort, KY)
- Paws 4 for Hearts Working Therapy Dogs (Spring Branch, TX)
- Paws Across Texas (PAT) (TX: Greater Dallas and Fort Worth)
- Paws & Hearts Therapy Dogs (Coachella Valley/Palm Springs, CA)
- Paws and Think, Inc. (Greater Indianapolis, IN)
- P.A.W.S. Anne Arundel County (MD)
- Paws As Loving Support (Sonoma/Marin counties, CA)
- PAWS Assistance & Therapy Dogs (Naples, FL)
- Paws For Friendship, Inc. (Tampa, FL)
- Paws For Healing, Inc. (northern CA-Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Marin counties)
- PAWS for People (Pet Assisted Visitation Volunteer Services, Inc.) (Parts of DE, PA, MD, NJ)
- PAWS for Service (San Antonio area)
- Paws from the Heart (Rhode Island)
- Paws’itive Teams, Inc. (San Diego County, CA)
- PAWS of CNY, Inc (central NY)
- Paws with Love Therapy Dogs, Inc. (Lawton, OK)
- Peninsula Humane Society Pet Assisted Therapy (San Mateo and norther Santa Clara counties, CA)
- People Animals Love (PAL) (DC metropolitan area, northern VA, MD)
- Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando (Orlando, FL area)
- Pet-A-Pet Club, Inc. (Greater Detroit/Ann Arbor, MI)
- Pet Connections (upstate NY)
- Pet Prescription Team (southern CA)
- Pet Therapy of the Ozarks, Inc. (50 mile radius from Springfield, MO)
- Pets and People Foundation, Inc. (eastern Massachusetts)
- Pets for Life, Inc.
- Pets Helping People, Inc.
- Pets on Wheels (Maryland)
- Pets on Wheels of Delmarva (DE, MD, VA)
- Pets on Wheels of Scottsdale, Inc. (AZ)
- Pony Express Therapy Dogs (University of Missouri)
- Portland Area Canine Therapy Teams (PACTT) (Oregon, SW Washington)
- Prescription Pet Program of Children’s Hospital Colorado (metro Denver)
- Project Canine – Connecting Canines (Seattle, WA area)
- Project PUP (Pets Uplifting People) (Tampa Bay area, FL)
- Quad Cities Canine Assistance Network (Greater Quad City area)
- Rainbow Animal Assisted Therapy, Inc. (Chicago and surrounding counties)
- Reading with Rover
- San Diego (CA) Humane Society Therapy Dogs
- San Francisco SPCA AAT Program (San Francisco)
- Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society Pet Outreach (Santa Fe, NM)
- SC Dogs Therapy Group (upstate of SC, north GA)
- Seattle Humane Visiting Pet Friends (Seattle, WA)
- Share-A-Pet, Org., Inc. (So. FL, San Francisco area, upstate NY)
- Sit Stay Read (Chicago, IL)
- S.M.A.R.T. Dogs (Aladema and Contra Costa Counties, CA)
- Smiles and Fur Friends Therapy Dogs (Greater Houston, TX area)
- Sonoma Humane Society Pet Assisted Therapy Program (Sonoma County, CA)
- Southwest Canine Corps of Volunteers, Inc. (NM: Greater Albuquerque and Santa Fe)
- SPCA of Erie County (NY) Paws For Love
- St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center (Paws for People Program) (northern NJ)
- St. John Ambulance’s Therapy Dog Program (Canada)
- Sunshine Teams, Mendocino Coast Humane Society (Mendocino Coast of CA)
- Support Dogs, Inc./TOUCH Program (MO: St. Louis metropolitan area)
- Tails of Aloha (Hawaii)
- Tails with Tales Therapy Dogs (Jefferson County, MO)
- Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Animal Therapy
- The Dog Knowledge Service & Therapy Dogs (Charlotte, NC)
- The Good Dog Foundation (NY, NJ, CT, MA)
- Therapet Foundation (Greater east Texas)
- TheraPet, Inc. (central NJ, CT, NY)
- Therapeutic Paws of Canada (Canada)
- Therapy Animals of San Antonio, Inc. (Greater San Antonio, TX)
- Therapy Dog Foundation, Inc. (southeast FL)
- Therapy Dogs International
- Therapy Dogs United (northwest PA and western NY)
- Therapy Dogs of Vermont (VT)
- Therapy Pals of Golden Triangle (Denton County, TX)
- Therapy Pets Unlimited (Baltimore, MD)
- TherapyPets (CA: San Francisco-Oakland Bay area)
- Therapy Tails Ontario (Ontario, Canada)
- Tony La Russa’s ARF Pet Hug Pack (Contra Costa County, CA)
- UCLA People Animal Connection (Los Angeles area)
- U.S.A. Therapy Dogs, Inc. (Central and SE Michigan)
- Valley Humane Society Therapy Dog Program
- Virginia Tech Helping PAWS (VA Tech area)
- Visiting Pet Program (Metropolitan New Orleans)
- Vitas Healthcare Program 98 (SF Bay area)
- Vitas Hospice Paw Pals (Dayton, OH area)
- WAGS Across Texas, LLC (Greater San Antonio, TX)
- Wags for Hope (Frederick, MD)
- WAGS Pet Therapy of Kentucky, Inc. (KY)
- WCA Hospital (Southern Tier, Chautauqua County, NY)
- West Michigan Therapy Dogs, Inc. (Greater Western MI)
- Windwalker Humane Coalition for Professional Pet Assisted Therapy (Rhode Island, part of MA)