Therapy Animal Volunteer Application and Placement Process

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at UCHealth at University of Colorado Hospital with your Therapy Dog. Therapy Dogs and their handlers play an important and meaningful role in providing service to patients and their loved ones. We hope you find your experience here to be valuable and worthwhile.

Below please find the volunteer onboarding process.

  1. Complete all of the required fields in the online application before hitting submitting. We do not recommend entering and submitting an application using a cellphone.
  2. Upload following 3 forms
    • Therapy Dog Certification from either Therapy Dogs International, Denver Pet Partners, or Alliance of Therapy Dogs
    • Rabies Shot Information
    • Current Health Certificate with vaccination list from your veterinarian
  3. Complete Handler application with training (see separate online application under Therapy Animals).
  4. Complete an interview with the staff in Volunteer Services (bring the dog).
  5. Complete 2-3 shadow visits with an experienced Therapy Animal team.

We look forward to meeting you and welcoming you to our team of volunteers making a difference at UCHealth. If you have any questions, please feel free to call our office at 720.848.1886.

Volunteer Services Department
Jenny Ricklefs, Manager, 720.848.4068, Jennifer.Ricklefs@uchealth.org
Melissa Strickland, Volunteer Coordinator. 720.848.4070, Melissa.Strickland@uchealth.org
12605 East 16th Ave, Mail Stop F771, Aurora CO 80045

You can enter the User ID (email address) field above as an extension of your email to allow for a separate login to the Therapy Animal's record, but any emails we send will automatically fall under your email.

For Example:  If your email is JaneVolunteer@gmail.com you can create the login for the animal as JaneVolunteer+Dog@gmail.com adding "+Dog" before the @ symbol.

CONTACT INFORMATION
EMERGENCY CONTACT
Please provide the name and number of someone we may contact in case of an emergency.
I agree that I will not feed my Therapy Animal a raw diet at any time when volunteering with UCHealth- Metro Denver due to potential infection risks to humans. 

I verify that the information provided is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I authorize UCHealth - Metro Denver and its agents to confirm all information provided on the application.