Welcome!  We're glad you're here!  Please take a few minutes to read the information below.

 

Eligibility requirements for PAL teams:

• Volunteer handlers must be 18 years of age or older

• Volunteers are required to follow all volunteer and visitor policies, including health, vaccination, and mask requirements, of the host sites/facilities at which they visit

• Dogs must be fully up to date on rabies vaccination (& distemper for DC residents)

• Both handlers & dogs must be eager to socialize with unfamiliar humans 

• Dogs must be non-reactive towards other dogs

• At time of evaluation, dogs must be at least 18 months of age & have lived with you for at least six months

Steps in the onboarding process to become a registered PAL team**:

1) Attend a 40-minute introductory Zoom session

2) Complete a volunteer application

3) Participate in a 25-minute, online handler interview

4) Demonstrate at an in-person team evaluation that you and your dog have the skills and temperament to be a safe, effective team (there is a $35 evaluation fee)

5) (Optional) Attend a PAL visit without your dog, shadowing a PAL team

6) Demonstrate competency at two or more coached visits

7) Submit $100 registration fee, good for two years

8) Be re-evaluated as a team every two years

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Program Update:
PAL is developing enhancements to our onboarding and evaluation process, including the addition of structured handler training and refinements to our evaluation format. During this transition there may be a temporary pause in evaluations as these updates are finalized. We anticipate rolling out the updated process in Fall 2026.

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Applicants who complete their evaluation prior to the rollout will continue to onboard under the current process described above. Additional details about the updated process will be shared as they become available.

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For further information regarding local training and therapy dog prep courses, and recommended reading, click the "Resources" tab above. Our in-person visits take place in the Washington, DC metro area. If you have additional questions, please email us at info@peopleanimalslove.org.

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We invite interested applicants to join our interest list to receive updates as they become available.

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