What do animal assisted therapy dogs actually do?

                  I wonder what Coco feels like

Many people ask me what animal assisted therapy dogs actually do?

Whether they “read,” play fetch or snuggle real close, they always share love and affection.

Animal assisted therapy pets bring the physical and emotional benefits of the human-animal interaction to people in a variety of settings.

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a goal-oriented behavior that brings about a specific result.

For instance, when Coco was young, we worked with a young girl who had cerebral palsy and met every other week for her physical therapy sessions. By brushing Coco, clipping her leash on and off, rolling a ball to her, dressing her in sweaters, petting her, this young child was strengthening her muscles while performing fun activities.

AAT is delivered and/or directed by healthcare professionals and designed to promote improvement in human physical, social, emotional and/or cognitive functioning. This is usually documented and evaluated.

Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) provide opportunities for educational, motivational and/or recreational benefits to enhance quality of life. This is what we do now when we visit the local women’s shelter. Coco plays with the children and they draw pictures of her, make posters and write stories. It is an activity that is unstructured and has no specific, targeted goal. And for many years we visited a long-term care facility for adults living with HIV/AIDS and our visits provided socialization and the love and touch of a pet.

Not every dog is suitable for both activities. Some are just terrific at both. Some blend both together such as our dear friend from New York whose dog plays basketball with children who have physical challenges. The dog will retrieve the ball thrown to her, put it in the little basket and do it over and over again. Thus this is therapy because it has a goal for the children and an activity because it is just so much fun.

Watch for Part II of this article which discusses the Benefits of Animal Assisted Therapy.

If you are a working therapy pair please share your stories with me.