mochas-approval-as-a-play-therapy-animal.pdf
Mocha is a four-year-old Black Mouth Cur/Labrador Mix. She is a calm, quiet, gentle, smart dog. One of Mocha’s favorite activities is cuddling. Mocha sometimes bops people’s hands with her nose when she wants pets, nudges her head under people’s arms so she can rest her head on their shoulder, twists her body into the strangest positions, stretches her paws out as far as she can, and flips upside down in a pretzel-like fashion. In this way, she is quite quirky and goofy. Mocha loves to solve puzzles. She is especially keen to work on more difficult and advanced puzzles, which she does with ease. Mocha also enjoys sniffing scent trails and tracking.
Mocha is approved by The International Institute for Animal Assisted Play Therapy®. The animal approval process, for Animal Assisted Play Therapy ® involves a specific evaluation, called The Animal Appropriateness Scale, of each animal. This is done in person and by video. The evaluation is completed by three independent evaluators and involves each evaluator scoring multiple criteria, including those specific to the characteristics of the dog and demonstration of trained behaviors. Dogs must exhibit and meet the following to be approved: sociable, playful, easily engaged, tolerant, respectful of boundaries, patient, self-regulated, cooperative, confident, healthy, energetic, flexible, free of significant problems, able to learn (VanFleet, 2013, 2015).