Upcoming Events
Handler Workshops & Team Evaluations
Therapy Animal Handler Workshop and Team Evaluation dates will appear on the Pet Partners Volunteer Center calendar and go live for registration approximately 30 days prior to the event date. If you do not have a Volunteer Center account, click here to create one.
Our workshop and evaluation venues rotate between Davidson, Sumner, and Williamson Counties, and the city will be noted on the Volunteer Center calendar. Dates are tentative and require at least 4 people to sign up for event to proceed.
Social distancing and sanitization guidelines will be in place to comply with CDC guidelines and Pet Partners COVID-19 protocol.
Therapy Animal Handler Workshop 2021 Dates
We have no more workshops scheduled for this year.
Watch for the 2022 dates, which will likely be posted here by late February 2022.
The full-day, 8-hour Therapy Animal Handler Workshop satisfies the Handler Course requirement to register for a Pet Partners Team Evaluation. For 2021, the price of the Workshop is $50 (payable by cash/check on the day of class) and includes a hardcopy of the Handler Manual.
April 24 from 9am - 5pm in Gallatin
June 12 from 9am - 5pm in Gallatin
August 7 from 9am - 5pm in Nashville
October 16 from 9am-5pm in Gallatin
Team Evaluation 2021 Dates
March 6, Nashville
May 15, Nashville
June 26, Gallatin
August 21, Gallatin
September 18, Nashville
November, 6, Gallatin
December 4, Nashville
To register, sign into your Volunteer Center account and click on "Courses and Events" to follow registration prompts. After you have registered, approximately one week prior to the evaluation, the Evaluator will contact you to confirm a testing time. Plan for approximately 45 minutes to check in and complete the evaluation. The test fee is $20 payable by cash or check on the date of your evaluation.
Therapy Animal Training
Pet Partners only provides training for the handler and does not provide animal obedience training; however, there are a number of individual and group trainers in the Middle Tennessee area who can assist you with your pet training needs. Additionally, Pet Partners collaborated with PetSmart to offer a 6-week Therapy Dog Training class that is available nationwide. For dogs, in addition to an outgoing personality and interest in meeting new people, the key skills to be a therapy animal are similar to those necessary for the AKC's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test; however, the CGC is not required to become a Pet Partners team. For other species such as cats, birds, guinea pigs, rabbits, domestic rats, mini pigs, equines, llamas and alpacas, Pet Partners offers additional information and webinars about necessary obedience skills on their website.
Upcoming Therapy Dog Preparation Classes
PetSmart offers a therapy dog preparation class created in partnership with Pet Partners.
Contact your local PetSmart for more information.
MCPP Member Nancy will be leading classes at the Murfreesboro PetSmart starting December 9, 2021 at 11am and January 20, 2022 at 1pm.
For more information about how to become a registered Pet Partners therapy animal handler, click here.