How to Get Involved

Summit Therapy Animals (STA) animal team members must acquire and maintain current certification/registration with national or international therapy animal organizations, such as Alliance of Therapy Dogs, Pet Partners, and Therapy Dogs International. This ensures all our therapy animal teammates meet a comprehensive standard for positive engagement and safety when participating in STA volunteer opportunities, programs, and events. Our board members are happy to assist any prospective teams in navigating the therapy animal certification process. Additionally, we welcome individuals without therapy animal teammates to support and participate in our organization.

If you would like a mentor or other assistance in becoming a registered therapy team, please feel free to contact any one of the following:

    1) Jan Shipman   970-389-6310  Silverthorne/Dillon/Frisco area

    2) Ann Hill   970-468-6302   Silverthorne/Dillon/Frisco area

    3) Brad Perry   970-485-4109   Breckenridge area

Or, simply contact us via email and we will connect you with one of our mentors.

You can also view our How to Become a Therapy Team handout to see what is involved in becoming a registered therapy team.

Therapy Teams

Before performing animal assisted therapy activities, you and your animal partner need to become a registered therapy team.

Once registered, you can join us at Summit Therapy Animals and become a member of our network of volunteer therapy teams. There is no cost associated with being a member of Summit Therapy Animals, we are simply a network of therapy teams in & nearby Summit County. As a tight network of volunteers, we have an established rapport many organizations (schools, libraries, hospitals, youth organizations, etc.)  in Summit and nearby counties, giving us the credibility and opportunity to perform and introduce new therapy activities in these organizations.

Becoming a registered therapy team will involve a testing process and a yearly registration fee. The act of registering means you are insured by the registering entity when you perform your therapy activities. Furthermore, the registering entity will require you perform a minimum number of "therapy visits" a year to remain active. The minimum number is low, typically around 4, but can vary by registering entity.

Therapy Dogs: if your therapy team will consist of yourself and a dog partner, then there are many "therapy dog" entities with which you can register:

To register with ATD, please read through the testing materials on the ATD website. Once you are ready to begin the testing process, either contact us or contact Lyn Manton Krueger (970-376-3934) to arrange a testing schedule. Feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions or need help with the registering process.

If you have a registered therapy dog with an organization not listed above and would like to join us at Summit Therapy Animals, please contact us with the details of your registering entity.

Other Therapy Animals: While the majority of the therapy teams in Summit Therapy Animals are "therapy dog teams", we will accept any registered & recognized therapy animal into our volunteer network. Pet Partners is the primary organization that registers therapy animals other than dogs (including birds, cats, guinea pigs and more) - please see the Pet Partners website for training & evaluation details in Colorado (and elsewhere).

If you have a registered therapy animal with an organization not listed above and would like to join us at Summit Therapy Animals, please contact us with the details of your registering entity.

Therapy Activities

If you have an "animal assisted therapy activity" in mind and are looking for volunteer therapy teams in & around Summit County to make your activity a reality - look no further... Simply contact us with details of the activity and we will work with you to establish & populate the program.

We have many members in Summit Therapy Animals network that are not therapy teams but representatives of a program (e.g., librarians, teachers, etc.) - we welcome your participation in our organization as an advocate for a specific animal assisted therapy activity.