Therapy Dogs of Vermont

04/02/2026

Thank you Michelle, Baldr, as well as everyone from the University of Vermont MEDVIDA for visiting our friends at Hope Lodge in Burlington, VT

03/12/2026

Have you thought about becoming a therapy dog team along with your furry best friend? If you think that you and they have what it takes, we have spaces available at two of our certification tests!

Saturday April 25th at 10:30am in Wells River.

Saturday June 28th at 1:00pm in Rutland

Please click the following link to read more about the requirements and apply.

https://therapydogs.org/become-a-team/therapy-dog-test-certification/

If you have any questions about what’s involved in testing, what we do, or anything else, please check out our website

www.therapydogs.org

Touching hearts, bringing joy, offering comfort & enriching lives with certified therapy dog teams. Join Therapy Dogs VT today, visit our site to learn how.

02/25/2026

A huge thank you to our friends at Hope Lodge in Burlington, VT for providing us with some pictures of a couple of our teams “unleashing smiles” at their amazing facility in Burlington!

02/07/2026

This is the weather that Penelope enjoys the most, whether she is working, or relaxing at home, as she is here. What does your pup think of all of this snow?

12/22/2025

Way to go Michelle and Baldr!

12/10/2025

Happy holiday season from all of us at TDV, as well as from Penelope!

12/10/2025

From our member Kristin

Rasta took a little break for himself today during our weekly visit to The Arbors to make sure the squirrels were behaving themselves. This one was.

12/08/2025

Maple, along with her handler, Robin, were hanging out with one of her bosses (Bri one of the volunteer coordinators) at the Respite House before starting her job of making residents, visitors and staff smile!

Way to go Maple (and of course Robin) for creating huge smiles!

12/08/2025

Penelope and I went to the First Lego League competition yesterday at Rutland High School. All of the competitors, as well as their families, and the volunteers, loved having a therapy dog attend their event. The stress from the competition ended up overwhelming a couple of the kids, and Penelope helped them to calm down, and return to the competition with huge smiles on their faces. Thank you Rutland Area Robotics, Rutland High School, and the Bee Bots from Rutland Intermediate School for allowing us to attend, and enjoy this amazing competition with you!

If you think that the kids at your school, or the people at your retirement facility, hospital, or other professional or educational environment, would like a visit from a certified therapy dog team, please request a visit here - https://therapydogs.org/request-a-therapy-dog-visit/

All of our teams are volunteers, and do this in addition to our normal jobs, family responsibilities, and other day to day tasks, so we can not guarantee that we will be able to fulfill every request, but I can promise that we will do our best to help everywhere we can!

12/02/2025

I had the pleasure of attending the National Dog Show Therapy Dog Symposium today. One of the topics was about how dogs can impact the lives of children who are incarcerated. The presenter was the Animal Assisted Intervention Specialist for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, and she spoke about how their Rescue 2 Restore program, that she started, has helped hundreds of children, some of whom have committed violent felonies, develop self esteem, patience, compassion, and for some, experience love for the first time. While this isn't exactly "therapy dog work", it certainly is therapy, and it involves dogs, and it definitely is about helping our youth to better themselves, something that I think that we all want, so I had to share these videos. I believe that everyone who follows our page knows the power that a dog can have on people, so I hope that you enjoy these videos, and pardon our break from our regularly scheduled therapy dog information.

Disclaimer - you might want to have a box of tissues handy, as the first one definitely had me crying!

https://youtu.be/_BTyQKsAzV0?si=lyCEBIxZ-cdbiBij

https://youtu.be/pTDIFEtdtAM?si=6NQ31z10OIWpKYDl

Learn more about how the Georgia's Department of Juvenile Justice is teaching youth about responsibility through its innovative Rescue 2 Restore dog training...

11/23/2025

Yay Willoughby!

FMS received a special visit from Willoughby, the therapy dog! 🐾😊

Willoughby is one of two certified therapy dogs who will visit on a rotating schedule and work with students to support emotional regulation, connection, and confidence. FMS is thrilled to bring this resource to its school community!

11/06/2025

One of our amazing members, Lisa, also has a therapy cat, who she brings with her to nursing homes. While we don't certify cats, kudos to her for finding a need, as well as finding a way to make it happen!

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1B9RUuqPSe/