Serving Westchester County and Fairfield County communities — one visit at a time.
Ask About Therapy Dog Certification ›Quick summary:K-9 Caring Angels Westchester & Connecticut is a volunteer therapy dog team led by Neil Cohen, offering a path for qualified Sit Means Sit graduates to pursue therapy dog evaluation and certification.
K-9 Caring Angels is a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 with a mission to provide trained, certified therapy dogs to communities across the country. Our Westchester & Connecticut chapter is led by Neil Cohen— a certified K-9 Caring Angels Therapy Dog Evaluator and the founder of Sit Means Sit Westchester & Connecticut.
Neil is a certified evaluator for both the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and the K-9 Caring Angels A.C.E. certification test, which means qualifying graduates can complete the entire certification path right here.
Therapy dog training and certification is offered at no additional charge to Sit Means Sit Dream Dog Program graduates whose dogs meet the requirements. All handlers are volunteers.
A therapy dog is a trained and certified dog that, together with its handler, provides comfort, affection, and emotional support to people in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, disaster sites, and other community settings.
Therapy dogs work as volunteer teams — invited into facilities to improve the well-being of others. They are not assigned to a single person. They visit, they connect, and they leave.
A therapy dog must demonstrate excellent obedience, a calm temperament, and the ability to handle unpredictable environments and interactions with strangers. Not every dog is suited for this work — and we will tell you honestly if yours is.
Our certified teams visit facilities and events throughout Westchester County NY and Fairfield County CT:
Therapy dog training and certification is available at no additional charge to qualifying Dream Dog Program graduates. Here is the path:
Your dog must demonstrate the temperament and obedience foundation that therapy work requires. Dogs with aggression, anxiety, or instability are not candidates.
CGC is the minimum obedience benchmark. Neil Cohen is a certified AKC CGC evaluator — testing is available right here.
The A.C.E. test evaluates your dog's readiness for real-world therapy visits — handling strangers, medical equipment, unpredictable environments, and sustained calm under stress. Neil Cohen is a certified K-9 Caring Angels evaluator.
The only costs are your therapy dog vest, handler shirt, and annual insurance. Training, evaluation, and certification are included at no charge. All handlers volunteer their time.
Cost summary:Therapy dog vest, handler shirt, and annual insurance — that’s it. All training, evaluation, and certification is included for qualifying Dream Dog Program graduates. All handlers are volunteers.
A well-trained dog can do more than sit, stay, and walk nicely on a leash. Dogs with advanced obedience, stable temperaments, and genuine handler focus can bring measurable comfort to people going through some of the hardest moments of their lives.
Hospital patients, children in reading programs, veterans in counseling, seniors in memory care — the research on the impact of therapy animal visits is clear. The work is real, and the dogs that do it have earned it.
If your dog has the temperament and your training is solid, this is one of the most meaningful things you can do together. We can help you get there. See what our clients say.
A therapy dog is a trained and certified dog that, together with its handler, provides comfort, affection, and emotional support to people in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, disaster sites, and other community settings. Therapy dogs work as volunteer teams invited into facilities — they are not the same as service dogs.
A service dog is individually trained to perform specific tasks for a single person with a disability and has legal public access rights under the ADA. A therapy dog provides comfort to others — patients, students, first responders — as part of a certified volunteer team. Therapy dogs do not have ADA public access rights.
No. Therapy dogs are not service dogs and do not have public access rights under the ADA. They visit facilities as invited volunteer teams — hospitals, schools, libraries, and other organizations that request their presence.
Good therapy dog candidates are calm, friendly, and non-reactive in unfamiliar environments. They are comfortable being handled by strangers, can remain focused around distractions, and show no aggression. The minimum obedience requirement is passing the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) evaluation, followed by the K-9 Caring Angels A.C.E. certification test. Not every dog is suited for therapy work — we'll give you an honest assessment.
Yes. The Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification is a minimum requirement before pursuing the K-9 Caring Angels A.C.E. certification test. Neil Cohen is a certified evaluator for both AKC CGC and K-9 Caring Angels therapy dog testing.
Therapy dog training, evaluation, and certification is offered at no additional charge to qualifying Sit Means Sit Dream Dog Program graduates. The only costs are for the therapy dog vest, handler shirt, and annual insurance. All handlers volunteer their time.
The therapy dog certification path at no additional charge is available to Sit Means Sit Dream Dog Program graduates whose dogs meet the temperament and obedience requirements. If you trained elsewhere, contact us to discuss your situation.
Our therapy teams serve hospitals and hospice, schools and libraries, fire and police departments, assisted living and senior care facilities, colleges and universities, disaster and crisis response events, counseling and domestic violence programs, and community events and parades throughout Westchester County NY and Fairfield County CT.
Whether you’re a current graduate curious about therapy certification or a prospective client interested in training with this goal in mind — reach out. We’ll give you a straight answer on where your dog stands and what the path looks like.
Serving Westchester County NY and Fairfield County CT • 4 Broadway, Valhalla, NY 10595