Therapy Dogs
Making Meaningful Connections
CHAMP Therapy Dogs teams connect compassionate volunteers and their exceptional dogs with people who most need comfort, encouragement, and connection. Our certified, dedicated handlers and their dogs provide impactful, high-quality therapy visits throughout the community.
Therapy visits are provided free of charge to the community. Our teams regularly visit a wide variety of settings, including adult and pediatric hospitals, schools and universities, adult daycares, special needs facilities, businesses, hospice centers, and many more. The visits are described as “a brief bit of bliss.”
In 2025, CHAMP Therapy Dog teams reached more than 83,000 people throughout the community, and we plan to continue to flourish in each year to come.
We have over 90 CHAMP Therapy Dog Teams visiting over 80 locations. We can visit yours too!
Become a Therapy Dog Team
The first step toward becoming a therapy dog team is enrolling in one of our training classes. Our therapy dog class is designed to prepare handlers and their dogs for the unique skills and responsibilities of therapy work. You’ll learn how to work confidently together in a variety of environments.
Ready to make a Pawsitive change?
Think Your Dog Has What It Takes?
Your dog may be a good fit if they:
Age & Experience
- At least 18 months old
- Lived with the current owner for at least 6 months
Training & Temperment
- Reliable basic obedience skills
- Friendly & welcoming to strangers
- Confident in new environments
- Comfortable with unexpected sights and sounds
Health & Care
- Healthy & well-groomed
- No breed restrictions
Above all, we want dogs and handlers who genuinely love this work.
Facility Visits
CHAMP Therapy Dog Teams bring comfort, encouragement, and connection to people in a wide range of facilities throughout the community. From hospitals and rehabilitation centers to hospice programs, senior living communities, schools, libraries, and mental health facilities, our dogs provide calming companionship and meaningful human interaction.
These visits help reduce stress, brighten difficult days, encourage social engagement, and create moments of joy for students, patients, residents, families, and staff alike.
Partners for Literacy
CHAMP therapy dogs help create positive, encouraging reading experiences for children through our Partners for Literacy program. Children read aloud to therapy dogs in schools, libraries, and educational programs – building reading confidence, improving communication skills, and reducing anxiety around reading. Because dogs provide a nonjudgmental and patient audience, children often feel more relaxed, motivated, and excited to practice reading.
By combining literacy and connection, CHAMP therapy dogs help turn reading into an experience children look forward to.
Facilities must be within a 50-mile radius of our Maryland Heights, Missouri office.
Serenity Visits
Serenity Visits are a special part of the CHAMP Therapy Dog Program, designed to bring comfort and calm during life’s most difficult moments.
Therapy dogs and their handlers provide gentle emotional support at funerals, celebrations of life, memorial services, and other times of grief or heightened stress. These visits offer a quiet, compassionate presence that helps people feel supported and less alone as they navigate loss and emotional challenges.
It feels really good to give back to those who need some comfort or even just a distraction from their troubles. And to do that in partnership with our dog makes the experience even more special.
Bill & Linda Giese, Owner of Fred the Therapy Dog
Bring the Wag to Your Facility
Want to experience the comfort and connection of a CHAMP Therapy Dog visit?
Our teams serve facilities within a 50-mile radius of our Maryland Heights, Missouri office.