Main Inquiry Question: What are the roles of therapy dogs and how do they affect those who they work with?

Answer:

Therapy dogs are different than service dogs and they have many different roles than service dogs. Service dogs can go much more places than therapy dogs. Therapy dogs also don’t do their job for an owner, they do it for a patient. Therapy dogs have many jobs to do but they do it easily, they only sit or lay down and let people pet them. At the same time, the government protects them at all times. One of the roles of therapy dogs is that they help reduce stress from people who are in a stressful environment. They do that by eliminating a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that makes you really stressed out, when you pet a therapy dog it eliminates that hormone so you will be less stressed out. Therapy dogs give off a non-threatening vibe so people feel safer around dogs in general. That is one of the reasons that therapy dogs go to disaster sites because people feel safer when there is a dog around with a non-threatening vibe. Another role of a therapy dog is that they are like a friend for people who are very lonely or people who are depressed. Therapy dogs always have a very positive effect on people no matter who they are or what they look like. Therapy dogs don’t judge anybody. Therapy dogs help make people excited and cheerful, never mad. Therapy dogs visit a lot of places including retirement homes, homeless shelters, schools, hospitals, libraries, places where disasters struck, rehab centers, courthouses, and much more. Therapy dogs go to retirement homes a lot because sometimes the people who live in the retirement home might of have a dog when they were younger, and it would bring back great memories of when they were with their dog. Therapy dogs go to courthouses because some kids that are victims are very stressed out and scared so they bring in a therapy dog for that reason. In schools therapy dogs help kids read, therapy dogs are the best reading partner because they don’t judge. There are therapy dogs all over the world, and therapy dogs are just growing more and more popular. Therapy dogs also reduce blood pressure and promote lower heart rate. After all of that happens, you will feel much less stressed. Dogs are calm so then when people feel the calm mood, they will feel much less stressed out. Some people say that the best human-dog bond is with elderly people. I agree with that. I agree because when I lived in the city, my dog had a great bond with this elderly man who lived on our block. Human-dog bonds fall apart when there is physical abuse to the animal/dog or when the owner doesn’t give the animal/dog enough exercise. The human-dog bond needs lots of trust, attention, and praise. If all of these are given right away, then a bond can be created very quickly. Some people just have an amazing time with the dog that they met with that they want to have the same exact dog again. That is one of the ways that therapy dogs affect those who the work with.

Sub Question Answers:

Sub-Question #1:

You might wonder what are therapy dogs and what are the roles of them? Well, the answer to that question is that therapy dogs are not the same as service dogs and they don’t have the same privileges as service dogs. The therapy dogs are not able to go the same places as service dogs because they visit patients they don’t do it for themselves, they do it for the patients. The therapy dogs help reduce depression, they reduce anxiety, and they lower blood pressure. I can’t even list everything that therapy dogs help with because there is too many. Therapy dogs eliminate a hormone called CORTISOL, therapy dogs also help push you to do things that you haven’t done in a while! Therapy dogs help give you a feeling of companionship, they make you feel like you have a friend! In a program called the R.E.A.D.Ⓡ program the therapy dogs help kids read, they are like mentors. Every therapy dog is protected by the government, and all that they do is sit down or lay down. That would be my dream job if I could have that job!

Sub-Question #2:

Another thing you might wonder is where do therapy dogs go and what places need them most? Well, the answer to that question is that therapy dogs visit hospitals, they work at child homes and at colleges, they go into nursing homes homeless shelters, schools, libraries, businesses, churches, places that have just been hit with a disaster, rehab centers, and much more. Therapy dogs go into senior homes more often than any other place that they go to. They go to senior homes more often because seniors don’t usually have a lot of people that come and visit them so they need happiness more than other people. Also, the people in senior homes might miss some of their childhood pets and they just want to be with a pet like the “Good Old Days”. Therapy dogs go to senior homes a lot more often because the people in these homes have nobody to meet with them or talk to them so they need some attention. Therapy dogs don’t have to work with someone that is old or someone who has disabilities, they can work with anyone.

Sub-Question #3:

Another thing that you might be wondering is that how do therapy dogs help reduce stress for the people who they work with? Well, the answer to that is that when you interact with any pet it reduces your blood pressure, and anxiety, and depression. All of that help reduce stress. And the dogs help eliminate a hormone called cortisol, cortisol is a stress hormone so when you eliminate that you have less stress. Therapy dogs help you feel less lonely and it makes you feel confident. Therapy dogs help reduce the feelings of isolation and promote the feelings of being safe. Therapy dogs also bring a pleasant and non-threatening vibe. Dogs are calm a lot of the time and so when people sense that calm feeling then they will feel calm to and soon it will spread a lot easily.

Sub-Question #4:

Another thing that you might be wondering is what are the different kinds of relationships between a therapy dog and a patient and how long do they last? Well, the answer to that is that elderly people have a vibe that makes good relationships with animals really quickly. Also sometimes when some people really like the animal that they work with, they request it again. Some people love their dog that they meet with a lot those people create bonds with the dog. The relationships happen when a human meets and cares for an animal. Human-dog bonds fall apart when physical punishment or not enough exercise happens.

Sub-Question #5:

Another thing you might be wondering is how is a bond built between a patient and a dog? Well, the answer is you need trust and affection. Dogs need humans and humans need dogs, when you have a bond with a dog it has many health benefits, it reduces blood pressure and it reduces heart rate. People can connect with dogs without getting set back or rejected. The bond can be built really quickly if there is a lot of trust and affection but if there is not a lot of trust and affection the bond will be grown over a couple of days or a bond might not even grow. A bond needs attention and praise along with trust and affection.