Training a Therapy Dog: What My Puppy Is Teaching Me About Purpose

August 8, 2026

I didn't get a puppy because I wanted a puppy. I got a puppy because I wanted a therapy dog.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I wanted a puppy, too.

In my adult life, I have never had a puppy. It was something that I was very interested in experiencing as an adult. As a kid, we had several puppies along the way, and I remember it being HARD. Chewing on stuff, peeing everywhere, and often not getting the training they needed. PLUS, they ended up being my mom’s dogs!

When I was ready to get my first dog, I adopted an adult dog, and I continued to adopt dogs (Lily, Moogie, and Lola) until the Chief Happiness Officer, Cedar, came along!

As a family, we took a lot of time to decide on the best breed of dog for our family, and we landed on a miniature poodle. What was important to us was that she would be small (portable!), intelligent (easily trainable), and have hair (no shedding!). We found the most wonderful breeder near Portland, Oregon, and we fell in love at first picture! I mean, she looks like a stuffy!

“Orange” Collar puppy at 5 weeks old, soon to be named Cedar, next to a stuffy! Photo Credit: Lidiya Rau.

We brought Cedar home on December 13, 2025, and she was just the cutest fluffy ball of energy and long snuggles, weighing in at 4.2 lbs!

A look of first love! Drive home after picking up Cedar in Portland, OR.

Now, I have a little bit of dog training experience. I did agility and flyball with Lily back before I had a kiddo and had more time on my hands. And I have to say, Cedar has been an EASY puppy! She is friendly, she learned to potty outside quickly, she’s happily crate-trained, and she loose-leash walks!

So pretty early on, I thought, Could she be a therapy dog?

The more I considered it, the more convinced I became that it was something I wanted to do.

When I went to the Long-Term Suicide Loss Survivor Summit a few weeks ago, I heard feedback that therapy dogs would have been so appreciated at the Summit. Honestly, I wanted to snuggle my puppy after a hard day of processing emotions myself. While not everyone is a dog person, most people can’t help but enjoy the healing love of a dog.

There are so many places where therapy dogs are needed, and I don’t quite know where I want Cedar and me to land with it. But in the meantime, Cedar has developed a particularly frustrating behavior: demand barking.

So we needed some assistance figuring out how to unlearn that behavior, and we called the Dog Sensei, Alex Keeler.

Alex came over and was greeted enthusiastically by Cedar (she even did her signature long-tongue lick up the nostril!), and we got right to work reinforcing good behavior and introducing new tricks.

Ultimately, it was concluded that our super-smart dog is not getting enough mental stimulation.

So, time to get creative and liven things up for her!

We’ll basically make her work for all of her meals. No more easy bowl of freeze-dried duck for her! She’ll be working puzzles to get it, sniffing it out of rolled-up towels, and figuring out how to release it from cardboard tubes. Midday snacks will be delivered via lick mats, and every move we make will be an opportunity for her to complete a task.

Basically, she’ll need to sit before everything!

In case you didn’t know this, dog training is about training the humans. 🙂

I don’t know exactly how Cedar will make a difference in the world quite yet, but she’s eager to learn, and she has certainly made a difference in my world.

Maybe that's how purpose works sometimes. We don't always know exactly where we're headed. We just notice what brings us joy, what we're good at, and where we might be able to make a difference,  and we start there. 

She’s my little Velcro dog, and I couldn’t be more in love with her.

Here’s to hoping we’re out helping and providing comfort soon!

Puppy with head out of the window enjoying the wind on a sunny day.

Wear Hope. Share Hope.

Nicole