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Bring Comfort and Joy with a Therapy Dog Visit

Looking to bring joy and stress relief to your workplace or event? Our therapy dogs are expertly trained to provide comfort in corporate settings, airports, dental practices, and more. Whether it’s a work gathering or a trade exhibition, our dogs will captivate your audience and create lasting smiles. The Dog Alliance offers Therapy and Reading Dog services in Cedar Park, Austin, Leander, Round Rock, Bee Caves, and Liberty Hill.

Discover the Impact of Therapy Dogs

Who Benefits from Our Bow Wow Therapy Teams?

Bow Wow Therapy Dog teams geographically serve Cedar Park, Round Rock, Liberty Hill, Austin, Bee Caves, and surrounding areas.

  • Nursing homes
  • Hospitals
  • Mental Health Hospitals
  • Alcohol Recovery Centers
  • Special Education Classrooms
  • Conferences
  • Schools
  • Libraries
  • Mental Health Hospitals
  • After-school Programs
  • Grand Opening Events
  • Stress-relieving Events at Local Employers

89%

Increase in Positive Social Interactions

40%

Reduction in Workforce Stress Levels

30%

Improvement in Academic Performance

90%

Patients Experience Emotional Relief

33%

Fewer Employees Taking Sick Days

Why Your Organization Needs a Therapy Dog

Boost Employee Well-being and Productivity

Incorporating therapy dogs into your workplace can significantly reduce stress and improve overall employee morale. Studies have shown that regular interactions with therapy dogs can lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety, and create a more positive work environment. This leads to increased productivity and job satisfaction among your staff.

Enhance Learning Environments in Schools

Therapy dogs play a vital role in educational settings, creating a calming atmosphere that fosters learning and emotional well-being. Schools that integrate therapy dogs into their programs often see improvements in student behavior, engagement, and social skills. Therapy dogs also support students with special needs by providing comfort and motivation.

Make a Lasting Impression at Events and Trade Shows

Therapy dogs offer a unique and effective way to draw attention at corporate events, trade shows, and conferences. Their presence captivates attendees and creates a warm, inviting atmosphere. Scheduling therapy dog visits at your events will leave a lasting impression on participants, making your brand stand out in a crowded market.

Support Mental Health in High-Stress Environments

In high-stress environments like hospitals, dental practices, and family courts, therapy dogs provide a source of comfort and relief. Their calming presence helps alleviate tension, making these spaces more welcoming for both staff and visitors. This support leads to better patient outcomes and a more positive experience for everyone involved.

Strengthen Community Connections

Partnering with therapy dog programs is a powerful way to show your organization’s commitment to community well-being. Whether you’re a business, school, or healthcare provider, bringing therapy dogs into your space demonstrates your dedication to mental health and creating inclusive, supportive environments for everyone.

Bring the Benefits of Therapy Dogs to Your Organization

Request a Therapy Dog

Frequent Asked Questions

Got a question about requesting a Bow Wow Therapy dog and handler? We’re here to help.  Here are some common questions and answers.

Bow Wow Therapy Dog teams must take a 6-week in-person course at the Dog Alliance after the dog has reached one year of age and already knows all the basic cues such as sit, down, come, stay, leave it, loose leash walking, and polite people greeting.  

Dogs and their handlers are re-tested every 3 years.  

After the therapy dog course, each handler and dog team are evaluated for twenty different exercises.  Half of the exercises test the dog’s ability to execute cues in a new environment so that their behavior is well-mannered and predictable when they visit your location.  

An additional ten exercises evaluate the dog’s suitability as a therapy dog.  Exercises include testing the dog with groups of people, with an angry person approaching them, unexpected loud noises, meeting several people at one time, hugging, and petting by a variety of people.  If the dog exhibits stress during these exercises or the handler fails to provide the guidance the dog needs to succeed, the handler and dog team will not pass the evaluation.   Bow Wow Therapy Dogs are friendly and eager to meet new people of all races, ages, sizes, nationalities, abilities, genders, and religions.

Dog Alliance Therapy Dog teams abide by professional guidelines to help ensure you and your constituents have a very positive experience with the Bow Wow Therapy and Reading Dogs.

All volunteers and staff at the Dog Alliance who are older than 17 years of age have been background-checked.  Prior to July 2021, volunteers were checked through Intellicorp.  Since July 2021, volunteers are checked through Sterling Volunteers.  We use a level 3 criminal history search that includes:

50 State DOJ Sex Offender Search

Terrorist Watch list Search

Validated Nationwide Criminal Search

Current County Residence Search

7 Year Address History County Search (Based on SSN#)

Validated Arrest Direct Search

Monthly Updating

In some instances, the therapy dog and handler who will be visiting your facility will be volunteers.  
Volunteers are covered by a $2,000,000 aggregate commercial general liability policy.  Each occurrence is limited to $1,000,000.  Volunteers are covered for up to $50,000 in medical expenses.  

Please note, the Dog Alliance’s insurance does not cover situations when a volunteer is using the therapy dog at their workplace.  For example, a school librarian brings their dog to work.  In these situations, the volunteer will either provide their own policy or the employer will cover the therapy dog handler. 

Employees and contractors who are therapy dog handlers are covered by commercial and general liability insurance policies.  

Click here to view our current policy summary. Named insured insurance documents can be provided for a fee.   

Insurance documents are already on file for most school districts within 50 miles of Austin.  Please check with your Risk Management office to verify coverage. 

Per our Bow Wow Therapy Dog program policies, all therapy dogs must be bathed with 48 hours of visiting a client.  This helps to reduce the shedding at the time of the visit. 

We recommend obtaining signed permission slips from parents for school programs before assigning a dog to a child to improve their reading skills. Bow Wow Therapy dogs are taught not to approach a person until given permission. In addition, adults and children with allergies should not ask to pet the dog.

While our handlers will need to know where they should take the dog to potty, we do not recommend having your therapy dog visit outside unless the event is outside and provisions have been made to keep the dog and handler comfortable.  

These dogs are all older than a year and have received extensive training. Therefore, a potty accident is highly unlikely.  Similarly, the dog has been bathed and brushed within 24 hours before the visit to reduce shedding. 

Yes!  

The Dog Alliance Bow Wow Therapy dogs and their amazing handlers can provide youth and adult programs at our location in Cedar Park, Texas, or at your location that is within 30 miles of our Cedar Park location. 
Programs include:

  • Storytime for childrenEducational program for preschool to fourth grade about petting dogs and being safe around new dogsEducational program about the science of training dogsBoy and girl scout pet badge programsEducational programs about service dogs for youth or adults
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for more information. 

In addition to the skills required to pass the certification test at a predictable level, Reading Dogs and their handlers also attend yearly teaching children to read and trauma awareness workshops.

Many of our reading dog handlers are retired or active educators or counselors.

Most school districts within a 50-mile radius of the Dog Alliance manage the Bow Wow Reading Dog program through a district-level initiative.  The cost per visit is set at the district level.  

There is a fee per hour for library visits.  The rate is based on travel time and frequency of visits. To learn more, please contact us.

To read all about the detailed steps of setting up the program at your school or library, including sample permission slips and data collection requirements, click here.

The Dog Alliance is a 501 C (3) nonprofit.  Click here to view our determination letter.
Our EIN is 20-4797768.

Click here to view our W-9.  

To maintain our program’s high standards and professionalism while paying fair wages and benefits to our staff, the Dog Alliance uses a cost-sharing model with our partners.  Please contact us to discuss this.