How Therapy Dogs Help.

Kallee was a Certified Therapy Dog from 1995 until she passed away in 2005. Read her story on this blog.

This is just one of many, many stories of how a therapy dog helps people cope.

Five-year-old Kelsey was a patient staying at Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati. A tracheal tube made it impossible for her to speak, but she didn’t have to utter a word to make an instant friend in Duncan, a smiley 3-year-old Westie. Using simple hand gestures, she was able to ask Duncan to sit, roll over and shake hands. Words couldn’t describe how that made Kelsey, and everyone else in the room, feel. “I think even Duncan had tears in his eyes,” says Clifton Lin, Duncan’s owner.

Duncan is one of 15,000 certified therapy dogs in the country. Therapy dogs are trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, nursing homes, schools and even disaster areas. In some cases they also play an integral role in the treatment process. For example, a therapy dog could play fetch with a stroke patient but bring the ball back to the affected side to help promote use of that arm again. The positive effects of animal therapy visits can be both emotional and physical.

The opportunity to connect with a friendly and loving therapy dog can help lift a lonely patient’s spirits, while the turning, reaching, and stretching of playing with an animal can help encourage mobility in other patients. Studies have shown that even the simple act of petting a dog can reduce blood pressure and promote the release of “feel good” hormones in the body. For more information on pet therapy or to find out about sharing the happiness of your dog with others you can visit Therapy Dogs International at www.tdi-dog.org.