What is PUPT? PUPT stands for Pawsibilities Unleashed Pet Therapy (of Kentucky), a non-profit organization created to increase and unite the number of available therapy pets and owners in our area. We wish to give them the recognition they deserve on a scale large enough to make institutions and hospitals aware of their importance and availability. We offer leadership & obedience training and therapy dog training. We also rescue dogs of all breeds with excellent temperaments and offer them for adoption as companions, therapy dogs, or train them as service dogs.
What is a Service Dog? Service dogs are legally defined by the Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990, and are trained to meet the disability-related needs of their handlers who have disabilities. Federal laws protect the rights of individuals with disabilities to be accompanied by their service animals in public places such as, but not limited to, movies, restaurants, hospitals, schools, offices, places of recreation, public transportation, commercial facilities and any other place that the public might enter. Title III of the Act prohibits discrimination based on disability in public accommodations. Private entities are also covered. Service animals are not considered "pets."
A Guide Dog for the blind is one type of Service Dog. Service Dogs also assist people that suffer from conditions such as deafness, seizure disorders, mobility constraints, psychiatric conditions or severe medical conditions.
How much does a Service Dog cost? Pawsibilities Unleashed Service Dogs are $5,000. This is a donation to Pawsibilities Unleashedvand the full amount is tax deductible.
How do I get a Service Dog? We constantly have service dogs available for adults and children. Our requirement is simply that you have a need for a service dog, that you are willing to provide good care for the dog and will follow our training system. We specialize in hearing alert, seizure response (and in some cases seizure alert), mobility, children's needs, and panic response. Our dogs are custom trained to provide the assistance that you require. We can offer a more reasonable cost because we train you how to be the dogs personal trainer. Please contact us to discuss your individual situation. We can help match you with a service dog whose talents match your needs. The tax-deductible donation is $5,000. Some people are able to make the donation on thier own and many of our previous recipients have been very successful with fundraising efforts. Read more about our Service Dogs >>
Do you provide Service Dogs for kids? Yes. We specialize in autism support, seizure alert, seizure response, diabetic alert, mobility assistance and hearing assistance. Ask us about interactive therapy with Service Dogs to increase a child's attention span, increase learning speed, assist with physical therapy and more.
We feel very fortunate (thanks to our volunteers, sponsors and donators) to be able to provide Service Dogs to people in need for much less than other organizations. We encourage you to do your research. You will find that most Service Dog organizations charge up to $10,000 or even $20,000. We will all agree that it costs a lot to select, test and match these special animals with disabled persons. We do it because it is rewarding - we can make a diference!
What is a Therapy Dog? "Therapy dogs visit people in hospitals, nursing homes, mental health centers, and shelters, where they do everything from lift spirits to assist with physical therapy. Evidence of positive responses to such animal-assisted therapy has mostly been anecdotal. But a recent study on elderly nursing home patients now offers scientific support that brief weekly visits from man's best friend can have a positive therapeutic impact." (source: National Geographic Article). PUPT is dedicated to the therapy dog cause and our members visit facilities on a regular basis. Read more about our Therapy Dog Program >>
How do I get a Therapy Dog?
1. Adopt a pre-qualified or certified Therapy Dog from us for $300 and then take our 6 week training course for only $200. In the course, you will learn leadership, obedience and therapy skills and volunteer ettiquite. Since a dog adopted from Pawsibilities Unleashed has already passed the good-temperament tests, you and your newly adopted dog will immediately be able to start visiting schools, nursing homes, hospitals and other special events with a senior therapy team member. You will need to complete 10 hours of supervised volunteer visits to be fully certified. As a certified Therapy Dog, your pet will be covered under our liability insurance during volunteer events.
2. Pawsibilities Unleashed can evaluate your dog to see if it qualifies to do therapy work. Many times, therapy work is just as good for the dog as it is for the people we visit. The reason is that it constantly socializes your dog with other dogs, people and places. The 6 week course is $200 and you will need to complete 10 hours of supervisied volunteer visits before your dog gets fully certified. As a certified Therapy Dog, your pet will be covered under our liability insurance during volunteer events.
How do I get my dog certified to work in hospitals and other places? We offer a 6 week course that teaches leadership, obedience and therapy skills. Your dog will need to be evalutate for temperament before it can be considered for therapy work. You will be required to complete 10 hours of volunteer hours accompanied by a certified dog/handler team. This helps get you acquainted with the facilities we visit and gets you familiar with the protocol. When you complete the training course and the 10 supervised volunteer hours, just turn in the paperwork we give you to get fully certified. You can also test your dog for the AKC CGC award.
Volunteering with your dog to do therapy work is a great way to socialize your dog and bring good cheer to people in your community. We visit schools, hospitals, nursing homes, libraries and public events with our Therapy Dogs.
How do I sign up for Therapy Dog class? You can sign up by emailing [email protected]. We offer group classes in Frankfort, KY on Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:00 p.m. and Saturday mornings from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The group course is six weeks and you can start anytime. The fee for the group course is $200 for a six week session.
How is PUPT different from Love on a Leash? The Master Trainer, Liz Norris, of Pawsibilities Unleashed actually started the Love on a Leash Kentucky chapter. However, Liz separated from Love on a Leash several years ago because she wanted to be able to offer more than just friendly dogs for people to pet and she wanted to incorporate some Service Dog and Animal Assisted Therapy into the Therapy Dog curriculum. The Love on a Leash guidelines do not include these advanced activities.
Therapy Dogs from PUPT are able to achieve advanced therapy degrees, get certified in animal assisted therapy (the dog actually assists as a teacher's aide or helps with physical therapy), and even learn advanced skills such as "get me a drink from the fridge"(video clip) or "pick the flashcard that shows a picture of a dog" (video clip).
My dog already knows basic obedience (sit, stay, come). Why should I take your class? Because most issues are behavior modification issues and not command obedience issues. There is a big difference between the two. Our leadership instruction can help you and your dog live in harmony together in a world where you are the leader. We do not use gadgets or pain devices, such as choke collars, chains, prongs or shock collars. We do teach you how to handle your dog with a plain flat collar or walking harness. Leadership training allows you to control your dog on a loose leash with confidence, even when passing by other dogs, greeting people, and encountering other distractions. Wouldn't you enjoy your dog more if you didn't have to constantly fuss with him?
How do I sign up for dog training classes & how much do they cost? You can sign up by emailing [email protected]. We offer private lessons in the home throughout central Kentucky and also group classes in Frankfort, KY on Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:00 p.m. and Saturday mornings from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. The group course is six weeks and you can start anytime. The fee for the group course is $200 for a six week session.
My dog is aggressive. What should I do? Contact Liz Norris, Master Instructor and Animal Behavorist at [email protected] or contact any other an animal behaviorist that does not use shock collars, prong collars, pinch devices, choke collars, or any other pain mechanism to control or train your dog. Those devices will make your dog even more aggressive and eventually cause your dog to redirect his aggression towards you. We have a proven record of helping people rehabilitate their aggressive pets. It is a lifelong commitment to rehabilitate aggression - aggression is not 'cured' but it can be managed successfully with the right program.
How do I adopt a dog? Visit our "adopt me" page to find a dog that interests you and then contact us to inquire about the adoption donation, begin the adoption process or to ask questions. We can also select a dog for you - one that best suits your family needs.
We have Therapy Dogs and companion dogs availabld for public adoption. Visit our list of adoptable dogs. Most of the dogs we have available for adoption were selected as Service Dogs for the disabled, but they were not matched with a person to begin work.These dogs make extraordinary family pets and Therapy Dogs.
Sometimes we get as many as 20 applications on a single dog and it may take a week or two to respond to process your applicaiton. A companion dog or pre-qualified Therapy Dog is usually about $300 and it is fully tax-deductible. That includes all of the vetting, microchip, spay/neuter, vaccinations, and temperament-testing.
What is the good temperament test? It is a behavior assessment designed to identify direct and deep rooted aggression issues in your dog. Aggression is either bred into a dog through improper breeding (backyard breeders & stray dogs breeding) or it is learned behavior through improper socialization or handling.
Once a dog is aggressive it can not be "cured" of it. It can be managed successfully, but the dog and must be carefully managed every day of the dog's life.
A dog that passes the good-temperament test is far less likely to bite another dog or a person. A dog that passes the test is very resiliant, happy, friendly, confident, relaxed, tolerant, accomodating, and non-aggressive towards dogs, people or animals.
On average, only 1 in 10 dogs will pass the good temperament test. Here are some of the minimum requirements for a dog to pass the test. If a dog bites, snarls, snaps, recoils, whinces, struggles or flees then it will not pass the test.
- Touch the dog all over (inside ears, butt, gently pull tail, put your fingers in it's mouth, kiss it all over the head and ears). The dog shouldn't care a bit and just keep wagging it's tail the whole time.
- Introduce the dog to other dogs and let it play freely with other dogs. The dog's hair should not raise, and it should not snarl or snap or bark at all. It should stay totally "happy" and not try to pee in all the corners of the yard (a sign of dominance, which can lead to territorial aggression).
- Give it a rawhide and then take it away from the dog's mouth. If the dog tries to avoid you at all or growls or doesn't want to let go of the object, then that is a serious sign that the dog is very likely to bite you in the future over something as simple as a squeaky toy or your bedroom slipper.
- Roll the dog gently onto it's back. If the dog does not willingly flop onto it's back and relax totally into that position, then it is an indicator that it has a low trust level and this is a strong indicator that the dog is very likely to be aggressive towards you in the future.
My dog has bitten another dog or a person. Can you find him a home? We do not take pets with a bite history into rescue. We could not, in good conscience, place such a pet with another family. If you cannot trust this pet with a child in your own home, how could anyone else? Even people who don't have children of their own, come in contact with children, so finding him a new home is not realistic. These people have nieces and nephews, friends, etc. It is not likely that any home could ever be found where your pet could be totally and completely isolated from other people or children.
We understand that your emotions are involved. How could they not be? These pets have a reputation for stealing our hearts. We know that you love him and are contacting us because you are looking for the best possible solution for him.
Our recommendation would be to call your vet, give him or her the WHOLE picture, and have the pet humanely euthanized. This would be the responsible thing to do, as his owner.
Again, we will not and cannot place a pet that has a bite history. We believe that it is unethical for any organization to place dangerous dogs. We are sorry we don't have better options to offer you.
I can't keep my dog anymore. He is friendly and well socialized. Can you find him a home? We generally do not accept owner turn-ins, but we will occassionally make an exception for an extraordinary dog. In order to be considered, your dog must be able to pass the good-temperament test. That means that a stranger should be able to get your hands in your dog's food bowl, take a rawhide from it's mouth, easily roll it onto it's back for several minutes. A stranger should be able to touch the dog all over, gently pull its tail, stick their fingers into its ears, pinch their butt, stomp loudly behind the dog and lead it easily through a crowd. The dog should play well with a pack of stange dogs of all sizes and not be timid, shy, aggressive or fearful. Generally, only 1 in 10 dogs will pass the good-temperaments test.
What are the Dog Laws? Dog laws vary by state and community. Unfortunately, many areas are banning entire breeds instead of actions. PUPT does not support breed-banning since we recognize that aggression should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Click here for information on Kentucky Dog Laws. You can also read about our dog bite policy
Do you accept credit cards? Yes.
We use Pay Pal's secure credit card processing. It is not necessary to have a Pal Pal account to use this service. Just click the links below to pay or donate via credit card. You can also send your payment or donation via check to Pawsibilities Unleashed at 1150 Bark Branch Road, Fankfort, KY 40601. All donations are tax deductible.