I spoke with A. on Tuesday and it was mentioned that A. does not have a certification on file for Patch, my dog. I explained to A. that while my dog was at one time certified as a pet therapy dog through Therapy Dog, Inc. based in Wyoming and tested by a professor in the Rec and Leisure department at USM during 2010, the certification lapsed because I did not pay the fees.
However, I assume that all the certification is good for is that the dog is insured during visits. Whereas I will be incorporating my dog into a W2 or 1099 position, Therapy Dog Inc. does not insure the certification of a dog at a W2 or 1099 work situation, only if a dog is volunteering.
So, since I am to be a paid employee utilising a therapy dog and that is the plan, I called my insurance company out of South Paris about insurance for my working therapy dog in the unlikely event that something goes awry. I am waiting for the insurance agent to call me back.
I explained everything to the insurance agent and directed the insurance agent to the nature of Patch and my work in volunteering and potentially working in a W2 by providing the peersponsorship.blogspot.com URL to which the insurance agent navigated while on the phone to me stating to me that essentially what my dog and I do is visit children and the elderly and that she had to factor how much it would cost in insurance to utilise a therapy dog in a W2 or 1099 position visiting people.