Animals to Help With Anxiety

One of the many unique offerings at Harper Therapy is our use of Therapy Dogs Toby and Hobbes as part of our therapy team.  Although I've always been an animal lover -- especially dogs -- I started looking into adding dogs to the practice after spending more and more time with Veterans and their service dogs.  I knew that there was something special about their connection; something that would be beneficial in the therapy room, so I started looking into how we could add animals to help with anxiety.  

Sure enough, there's research about the benefits of interacting with dogs, about how it lowers heart rate and blood pressure, and how it calms the nervous system. I definitely knew we were on to something when we started getting phone calls and internet searches from people looking for therapists who have animals to help with anxiety!  Having the dogs in the office makes the environment much more comfortable and home-like, and petting them during session makes it a bit easier to do the hard work of therapy!

After meeting "the boys", as I affectionately call Toby and Hobbes, many people ask about getting a dog for themselves.  I often get questions about therapy vs. emotion support vs. service dogs, so I thought I'd share some information about what makes these categories different, and how to incorporate these animals to help with anxiety.

Therapy Dogs:

As therapy dogs, Toby and Hobbes are "working dogs", with a twist!  Their "job" is to interact with people and make them happy!  To be a certified therapy dog, a dog must be well-trained and polite.  Therapy dogs work in stressful public environments, such as schools, hospitals, courtrooms, but they must be invited.  Therapy dogs can and should be petted and interacted with -- that's their job (and they love their job)!!  Therapy dogs are animals to help with anxiety.

Emotion Support Dogs:

Emotion support dogs serve their owner. They do not need to be "certified" or have special training, but they should be relatively well-behaved and responsive to their owner's needs. Emotion support dogs, as the name implies, offer emotional support to their owners. They are not generally allowed in public places, such as restaurants, however, and are not protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Emotion Support Dogs are typically used to help their owner travel, usually on airplanes. Emotion Support Dogs are also allowed access to housing environments where pets are not typically allowed. Emotion support dogs are animals to help with anxiety in their owners. Owners can get a letter from the medical or mental providers.

Service Dogs:

Service dogs are, legally, working dogs, protected under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).  They are specifically and highly trained to work and perform tasks to meet the need of their owner, such as guiding the blind, alerting their owner to sound, performing tasks for people confined to wheelchairs, alerting the owner to seizure, diabetes/blood sugar level, or assisting their owner through flashback and other Post Traumatic Stress symptoms.  By law, these dogs are allowed access to public places and businesses that typically do not allow animals on their premise.  Store owners do, however, have the right to ask if the dog helps the owner with a specific task, but are not allowed to ask what task that is.  Service dogs are expected to be fully housebroken and very well-mannered.

Breeds of Dogs:

Typically speaking, any breed of dog can be used as therapy, emotion support, and service dogs.  For service dogs, the breed and size of dog must match the job that the dog performs.  For example, if a service dog's job is to help its owner balance, the dog must be big enough for the owner to lean on.  Dogs can be rescued and adopted, or purchased from a breeder.  Typically, the temperament of the dog, and its ability to train, plays a bigger factor than the breed.  For therapy dogs, basic training can be done through a local trainer or pet store, leading up to AKC's Canine Good Citizen and Pet Therapy Certification.  Basic obedience classes are beneficial for emotion support dogs.  Service dogs can be trained by the owner, but are often times trained by specific organizations, such as Southwest Guide Dogs, which trains seeing eye dogs, as well as PTSD service dogs.Have more questions about the benefit of animals to help with anxiety?  Contact us today!