The main purpose of the master thesis was to explore the methods and ways of schooling therapy animal teams in Slovenian larger associations performing animal assisted interventions (AAI) and to compare them with the school system of two major foreign associations that have been active in this field for many years (Pet Partners, Tiere als Therapie). The study involved three Slovenian associations, PET – Pasja enota terapevtov, Zavod za posredovanje s pomočjo psov, Slovensko društvo za terapijo s pomočjo psov Tačke pomagačke in Slovensko društvo za terapijo s pomočjo živali Ambasadorji nasmeha. To collect data, in one of the associations we followed the entire course for new therapy animal teams, in the other two we obtained all the necessary information with interviews. Our main focus was the training duration of the course, topics and exercises that both man and animal must master, methods of identifying a suitable team and a suitable animal and further education of therapy animal teams that already passed the training. After completion of theoretical and practical training, we followed the work of the team candidates from all three associations in different institutions. In our study, we have found that associations carry out similar exercises for testing animals and future therapy animal teams, they cover similar topics and all associations stressed the importance of training animals and the owner together, as a team. The biggest difference between associations was the performance and duration of the training. Ambasadorji nasmeha has the longest training while the shortest one has Tačke pomagačke. Similarly, in all associations, future therapy animal teams must undergo traineeship, 16 hours at Ambasadorji nasmeha and 25 hours at Tačke pomagačke and Zavod PET. Ambasadorji nasmeha and Zavod PET demand theoretical and practical exams, while in the Tačke pomagačke, future therapy animal teams perform only a practical examination. All three associations are working hard to prepare therapy animal team candidates as best as possible for AAI performance.
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