A golden retriever named Nell, cairn terrier Bonnie, Lab mix Sally, poodle Hannah and stabyhoun Chance all passed their therapy dog testing in Falmouth on June 1.

All five were students of dog trainer, therapy dog instructor and “dog whisperer,” Jean Conte. All five had previously passed Canine Good Citizenship testing. Therapy Dog International (TDI), encourages dogs and their handlers to successfully complete a CGC class before thinking about becoming a therapy team.

Therapy dog classes are attended for six weeks, sometimes longer depending on the pup. TDI has strict guidelines and standards that must be met to ensure dogs and their owners work well together.

Dogs and their owners take 13 tests in the form of situations/scenarios and dogs and handlers must pass all 13 to apply for certification from TDI. Dogs must be comfortable having a lot of people around them — including children, and people in wheelchairs, using walkers or on crutches.

Human members of the teams that passed with flying colors are (respectively) Carolyn and Joel Russ of Walpole, Irene Hutchinson of Waldoboro, Ginny Withee of Southport, Sarah Shields of Bristol and Chris Sprague of Nobleboro.

“My students did it again,” Conte said, with a smile.