Teaming Up with Therapy Dogs

Skills to Build Healing Partnerships

Discover how ordinary dogs and dedicated handlers become extraordinary healing teams.

Whether you dream of volunteering with your own dog, are already part of a therapy dog team, or simply want to better understand the remarkable bond between people and dogs, Teaming Up with Therapy Dogs offers an inspiring and practical guide to the world of animal-assisted therapy.

Drawing on decades of experience as a therapy dog handler, evaluator, trainer, and volunteer, Susan Hartzler combines heartfelt storytelling with step-by-step guidance to help readers understand what it takes to become an effective therapy dog team. From selecting the right dog and preparing for certification to navigating real-life visits in hospitals, schools, libraries, nursing homes, and crisis settings, this book provides both the practical skills and emotional insights needed to make a meaningful difference.

Whether you’re taking your first steps toward volunteering or looking to deepen your understanding of therapy dog work, this book will equip and inspire you to build a healing partnership with your dog—one visit at a time.

Available now Amazon & McFarland

The Peace Puppy

A MEMOIR OF CAREGIVING AND CANINE SOLACE

Are you ready to explore the transformative power of love and the profound impact of canine companionship? Susan Hartzler’s new book, The Peace Puppy: A Memoir of Caregiving and Canine Solace, invites readers to embark on a heartfelt journey through the trials and triumphs of caregiving.

In her latest memoir, Hartzler shares her deeply personal experience overseeing her father’s care during his final years, revealing the undeniable strain of caregiving. Her moving non-fiction narrative illuminates the many challenges adult children face when they dedicate their lives to the care of their parents and uncovers the extraordinary capacity of the human spirit. What makes her story unique is the inclusion of her rescue dog, Baldwin, who seemingly intuitively offers unconditional love and support to her and her ailing father.

The Peace Puppy is more than just a memoir; it’s a compassionate guide for anyone navigating the complex caretaker role. It offers practical advice, valuable insight, and lessons learned. Baldwin emerges as the hero in this story, and it’s for this reason that Hartzler advocates for anyone in a similar situation to consider getting a canine companion. He somehow manages to keep both Hartzler and her father afloat…providing an unexpected lifeline and, of course, a few laughs along the way.

The Peace Puppy: A Memoir of Caregiving and Canine Solace is available at McFarland, Amazon, and other leading bookshops.

I’m Not Single I Have A Dog

DATING TALES FROM THE BARK SIDE

At age 60, Susan Hartzler has learned to accept, even love, the single life, provided she has good friends and a dog or two by her side.

Always attracted to the quintessential bad boy with his good looks and charming ways, she was sure she could change “the one” into a devoted partner and loving father, but her compulsive giving and fixing behaviors went hand in hand with her disappointing and disastrous romantic relationships.

On a purposeful trip to the pound, she hoped to find a dog to care for, one that would sniff out the bad guys, give her a sense of purpose, and help her find meaning in her crazy world. Thoughtful and funny, this memoir follows Susan’s life through the many ups and downs on her way to finding unconditional love.

Her journey is a personal one, full of the hard decisions it took to learn to put herself first and stop entering and staying in unhealthy relationships. By saving a dog, she rescues herself, learning to love herself as much as her dog loves her.

Order now: Amazon • McFarland • Barnes & Noble

Now Available Via Amazon Audiobook!

PRAISE FOR I’M NOT SINGLE I HAVE A DOG

“What a wonderful read. From start to finish, you can identify with the author and just proves that dogs, not diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Susan takes you on a journey filled with laughter, love, loss and angst. I give it five paws!”

”In this work, Susan Hartzler explores a simple truth: we may disappoint one another, but dogs never do that to us. There’s heart and soul in Hartzler’s account of the dogs she’s loved who loved her back. She’s honest, brave, self-aware, and humorous in writing about her romantic disappointments and the bedrock affection of dogs whose presence were both salve and salvation for her. There’s no hint of misanthropy in her story, just a growing self-awareness and embrace of the idea that no life with companion animals is incomplete or lacking when it comes to love.”