Prescreen Evaluation (Ratification Step #3)

Prescreen is a day-long event that asks prospective volunteers to demonstrate their companion animal's aptitude in pet therapy activities through a series of obedience and temperament scenarios.  

This event costs $70 per team, or $50 for teams where the handler is age 65+ or the handler has previously been ratified with PeTS.

Teams with dogs will be asked to perform all obedience and temperament scenarios, while teams with cats will only asked to perform the temperament scenarios.

Prescreen Agenda:

- 9:15am to 10:15am - The first group of teams (max. 4 teams) takes turns performing the obedience scenarios. 

- 10:30am to 11:30am - The second group of teams (max. 4 teams) takes turns performing the obedience scenarios. 

- 11:30am to 1:00pm - Obedience evaluators reach consensus on which teams have satisfied the obedience requirements and are eligible to perform the temperament evaluations.  Evaluators will contact eligible teams with an afternoon time slot (15-min duration).  

- 1:00pm to 3:00pm - Teams individually perform the temperament scenarios.

Things to Know:

1. Prescreen prerequisites: a) Prospective volunteers must have attended a Volunteer Information Session or have taken the PeTS 101 online qualification quiz.
2. Prospective volunteers must have a paid PeTS membership, which costs $30/year.
3. PeTS will only evaluate companion dogs and cats that are at least 24 months of age at the time of the Prescreen event.
4. A Prescreen start time will assigned approximately 5 days before the event, provided the event fee has been paid in full, and the prospective volunteer has emailed a completed Handler & Animal Profile and a copy the animal's current vaccinations/ titre testing results to prescreen@pettherapysociety.com.
5. At Prescreen, animals must be clean & well-groomed; nails are smooth to the touch.
6. At Prescreen, dogs must wear a flat collar with a quick release buckle.  If medically or physically necessarily, a back-clipping harness is acceptable for dogs. Cat must wear a quick release, back-clipping harness and be transported inside a crate.  
7. At Prescreen, animals must be leashed at all times, and the handler's leash must be no more than 6 feet long.  
8. At Prescreen, teams using choke chains, prong collars, martingales, head-haltis, muzzles, flexi-leads, or retractable leashes will not permitted to participate.
9. After Prescreen, all Prescreen participants will receive a written report summarizing the Prescreen evaluators’ feedback. Teams that have met the temperament requirements will be eligible to register for a PEP Weekend event.