How to Get Involved

If you would like a mentor or other assistance in becoming a Registered Therapy Team, a set of our volunteers is available to answer questions or help guide you through the process. Please feel free to contact any one of them:

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

    2) Susan Alderman   970-468-6298   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 get a feel for 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 in Summit and nearby counties (schools, libraries, hospitals, youth organizations, etc.), 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 (on the therapy team) 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. Delta Society is the primary organization that registers Therapy Animals other than dogs (including Birds, Cats, Cows, Donkeys, Goats, Guinea Pigs, Horses, Llamas and Rabbits) - please see the Delta Society's 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.