How Do Therapy Dogs Impact

Lives?
Updated On: 7 Oct 2020 By Taruna Venkat
Therapy dogs have been used for years to help people cope with physical,
mental and emotional disabilities, and are used in various important
situations, such as hospitals, prisons or for personal support.
The familiar and distinctive tag “man’s best friend” is reserved solely
for the furry canine species that lives alongside humankind. Ever
since their domestication from wolves about 30,000 years ago, dogs
have been bred and trained by humans to be inseparable
companions, while also providing invaluable services. These range
from utilizing their canine sense of smell for hunting, search-&-
rescue and sniffers, to guarding and shepherding, and to simply
enlivening our homes with love and companionship.
Time and again, overwhelming evidence has found that holding and
stroking pet animals, or even just observing them, fills our brain with
the “happiness hormone” called serotonin, relaxing us and reducing
anxiety.
How many of us are guilty of spending hours scrolling through
adorable animal posts on social media? I know I am!

That is directly attributed to the calming effect these creatures have

on us.
 Animals, including horses, are capable of helping humans calm
down and improve healing (Photo Credit : patrikteam/Shutterstock)
The use of dogs (or, indeed, many animals) in assisting healing and
growth has permeated ancient and medieval civilizations in the form
of various animistic and shamanistic ideologies. More recently, it
has taken on a more scientific form called animal-assisted therapy.
This uses horses, dogs, cats, guinea pigs or other domesticated
pets to calm patients, promote healing, and raise alarm in dire
situations.

Research points to the effectiveness of domestic pets in reducing

hypertension, lowering heart rates, reducing the chance of
developing allergies, and many more therapeutic effects!
To understand this further, we’ll explore where therapy dogs leave
their paw prints for the benefit of humanity.
Where have therapy dogs been used
successfully?
One cool study found that dogs are actually capable of empathizing
with human distress! This means that if a person is crying and
unhappy, dogs are able to sense this distress and empathize with
them. That’s why dogs often sit with, sniff, nuzzle or lick their upset
owner because they can tell when they’re sad.
This awesome “sixth sense”, or exceptional tuning to human
emotion, makes dogs great therapy animals.

Specially trained therapy dogs can be used to improve the health

and mental state of children, elderly, disabled, or emotionally
affected individuals (Photo Credit : Maljalen/Shutterstock)
Trained therapy dogs have been applied in various scenarios,
including but not limited to the following:
Patient recovery: Hospitals sometimes employ trained assistant
dogs to spend time with recovering patients, to reduce anxiety and
stress and improve healing. Sometimes children’s wards have
regular therapy canine visitors to stimulate a speedier recovery. This
function also applies to mental and other medical institutions.
Trauma recovery & rehabilitation: Military institutions, like the army
and navy, sometimes have therapy sessions for recruits to help
them recover from traumatic experiences. A similar concept is
employed in the rehabilitation of victims of abuse, prison inmates,
and other such emotionally impacted individuals. Often, traumatized
children only open up about their experiences after spending time
with a therapy dog. In some situations, they even prefer to talk to
the dogs, rather than humans, making these dogs furry professional
counsellors in their own right!
Situational support: If it isn’t clear already, therapy dogs are great at
de-stressing, and have been used in situations of stress to calm
people down for many years. After the 9/11 attacks in the United
States, the San Jose, CA airport was the first American airport to
employ therapy dogs in waiting areas to soothe passengers’ nerves.
Airport therapy dogs are used in many locations across the world to
calm down individuals who experience pre-flight jitters—a common
occurrence among passengers. Another great example includes
dogs employed by educational institutions to reduce the anxiety of
students and improve performance and concentration.
Personal Support Dogs:
 Emotional Support Dogs: ESDs are personal pets used to
treat individuals requiring some emotional support.
Depending on the situation, ESDs may or may not be
trained, and in some countries, ESDs are not permitted
access to public spaces that prohibit dogs. The function of
these dogs is to simply provide emotional support and a
sense of companionship with their mere presence. For
instance, some children with learning/speech difficulties, or
individuals with some social phobias, may gain a sense of
comfort from the presence of the dog. This kind of therapy
dog would qualify as an Emotional Support Dog, commonly
called a service dog (Source).
  Psychiatric Assistance Dogs: In some countries, this term is
used interchangeably with ESDs, but generally, PADs are
fully-trained and certified dogs and are used for patients
suffering from more advanced mental illnesses. Examples
include bipolar disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD), anxiety, depression, epilepsy and similar
conditions. The primary function of such animals is not to
provide emotional support (although it is one of their duties),
but to ensure that their owners are able to carry out vital
tasks independently. Some specialized tasks that these
amazing dogs are specially trained to perform include –
recognizing and interrupting anxiety-inducing thoughts,
constant body contact, disrupting self-harming/other
troublesome behaviors, nudging behavior to distract and
bring owners back to reality, and many others.
When a dog is helping individuals with physical disabilities, they
may simply be called assistance or service dogs, but they may also
undergo extensive training, such as the training used for PADs.
 Personal service dogs, like this one, can assist as a guide for
owners with physical or mental disabilities and help them live a
more normal life (Photo Credit : Antonio Gravante/Shutterstock)

The Best and Brightest

These unconventional counsellors are clearly capable of doing their
job; there are endless examples, both anecdotal and scientific, of
the effectiveness of therapy dogs in helping struggling humans.
However, not all dogs are therapy-ready right off the bat, and some
(like PADs) need a little special training to prepare them for the
challenging tasks ahead.
Although any dog may become a suitable therapy dog after
sufficient training, some breeds of dogs are more likely to be better
therapists than others. This is because of certain inherent traits that
they express. These traits include a calm and friendly demeanor, an
unexcitable temperament, intelligence, the tendency to bond, the
desire to work, and tidiness (which means less shedding and
drooling!). Professional organizations that deal with therapy dog
training specify a few breeds that make ideal therapists, usually
including:
 Labrador Retrievers
 Golden Retrievers
 Beagles
 Poodles
 German Shepherds
 Collies
 Greyhounds
 Pomeranians
Many more breeds are used as therapy animals, but as explained,
these are simply some of the best!
 The labrador breed is one of the most popular breeds for therapy,
due to their calm temperament, friendliness and intelligence (Photo
Credit : claire norman/Shutterstock)
In conclusion, these intelligent creatures provide an invaluable
service to humans in need. We must not underestimate the
contribution that animals have towards humanity, and should
instead work towards reciprocating kindness to all creatures.
Perhaps we can begin by bringing these fantastic animals out of
miserable shelters, and employ them where they can be loving and
loved!
References
1.Heart Views Journal
2. Animals Journal
3. Frontiers in Veterinary Science
4. Book: Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy
5. Animal Cognition Journal
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