Angel on a Leash. David Frei
know what they do for others—no one needs to tell me why or how. Lately, though, science is catching up to our intuition. We are learning the physiology behind it all. Studies have shown that when you interact with a dog, whether it’s petting a dog or just looking at a dog and smiling, it increases the flow of endorphins, the “good” hormones, and that makes you feel better. When you feel better, your blood pressure goes down and your heart rate goes down.
We call it the therapeutic touch. There are more and more studies being published every day that back this up. Here are some, as reported by Delta Society:
• A 2005 study by the American Heart Association showed that heart patients visited by therapy dogs experienced a reduction in stress levels.
• A 2004 study by Rebecca Johnson, PhD, RN, of the University of Missouri-Columbia Center for the Study of Animal Wellness, showed that when a human pets a dog, it launches a release of hormones such as beta-endorphin, prolactin, dopamine, and oxytocin, all associated with good health. This was the first time that a therapeutic relationship between animals and humans had been scientifically measured.
• An earlier study at the State University of New York at Buffalo by Dr. Karen Allen evaluated forty-eight stockbrokers who were taking medication for hypertension. The study found that the brokers who were given a pet saw their stress levels drop significantly, and half of them were able to go off their medication.
• Studies reported in the American Journal of Cardiology in 2003 found that pet owners have shorter hospital stays, make fewer doctor visits, and take less medication for high blood pressure and cholesterol that those who do not own pets.
• The Chimo Project in Alberta, Canada, compared animal-assisted therapy with traditional therapy for patients in treatment for depression and anxiety in a twenty-seven-month project that began in 2001. The patients who met with therapists who used dogs in their sessions looked forward to therapy more, felt more comfortable talking to the therapists, and felt that they performed better at home and school than patients receiving traditional therapy. Patients who had pets were less depressed or anxious at the outset and showed lower scores on the depression severity scale after therapy than those who did not own pets.
But I found that it still is more than science and physiology. It’s spirituality, too. Dogs are faithful friends, gifts from whomever or wherever you believe they come from. They are blessings, and we give thanks for our blessings by sharing them with others.
About the time that Cheri came into my life and brought me Teigh and Belle, I read Tuesdays with Morrie, the great book by Mitch Albom. Mitch was a sports-writer from Detroit who rediscovered one of his college professors, Morrie, who was in the last months of his life. The book tells of a series of visits between the two men in which Morrie shares his life lessons.
Morrie talked about devoting yourself to loving others, devoting yourself to the community around you, and devoting yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. With all of that, Morrie said that you should choose to live a life that matters, offering to others what you have to give—specifically love and compassion. I never got to meet Morrie, but I did read the book. And just as good, I had Teigh and Belle to teach me about unconditional love. They helped me choose what I believe to be a life that matters. Teigh and Belle changed my life.
Their spontaneity and total honesty might just be what makes dogs so good at therapy work. Many of the patients we visit have to live their lives in the moment because, sadly, that’s all that they have. But that’s perfect for the dogs because they live their lives in the moment, too. And it’s perfect for our visits because we visit in the moment.
Perfect.
| “Therapy is about the dog and the patient, not about the handler.” |
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Stay Out of Their Way
I believe that good therapy dogs are born, not made. It is mostly a personality and temperament thing. They don’t have to be a particular breed; a therapy dog can be any breed or a mixed breed. While some breeds are inherently better at it than others, it is still an individual thing that is also dependent on the handler.
Therapy dogs need to have positive, happy, accepting personalities. Sure, they need some basic obedience training, but more important, they have to be able to tolerate and withstand, with help from their handlers, loud noises and awkward situations. They have to enjoy attention and being around people, but not necessarily all people. Some therapy dogs enjoy rambunctious kids, while some of them prefer more sedate seniors. Some of them love lying quietly with patients on their beds, and some of them need to chase a ball and roll over to have their stomachs rubbed.
The human half of the therapy dog team—and it is important to remember that it is a team—can mess things up. It can come from trying too hard, from being too protective, or from pushing a dog into a situation that he doesn’t like. Or it can just be because the person doesn’t get it. Therapy is about the dog and the patient, not about the handler. In that sense, it’s very similar to what I always say about handlers in the dog show ring—the best handlers are almost invisible. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have a presence and an important role, but the best therapy dog handlers are guiding, not leading, and protecting, not pushing.
Angel On A Leash was a subject for a piece on the Today Show a couple of years ago. It was a wonderful story that was reported by Jill Rappaport, featuring interviews and video from Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and from Ronald McDonald House, and closing with Teigh, Belle, and me in the studio.
Host Meredith Vieira asked me, “David, when you’re out there doing your thing with your dogs, what is going through your mind? What’s the most important thing that you are thinking about?”
That was an easy answer.
“Just stay out of their way,” I said.
I get a lot of people who come up to me and say something like, “My dog will make a great therapy dog; she’s ready to go right now. You’ve seen her out here in the neighborhood. Why do we have to go through the training class?”
I tell them that the training is almost more for the people than the dogs (and occasionally I think, especially you). Sometimes I tell them that with a little wink, and sometimes I just send a little thought to the dog: “Good luck with your human.”
There are a number of therapy dog organizations out there that train, evaluate, and register therapy dogs. My personal favorite is Delta Society of Bellevue, Washington, which is our preference and recommendation for all of our Angel On A Leash facilities. I am a past board member and public relations consultant for Delta and have been familiar with their work for a long time, dating back to my days in Seattle.
Delta Society was formed in 1977 by a number of visionaries from the human and veterinary health fields. Psychiatrist Dr. Michael McCulloch and veterinarians Dr. Leo Bustad and Dr. Bill McCulloch were the leaders of a group of professionals who had seen the human-animal bond providing positive effects on their clients and patients.
Delta grew into an international organization emphasizing animal-assisted activities and animal-assisted therapy. From Delta’s website (www.deltasociety.org):
Animal-assisted activities (AAA) are basically the casual “meet and greet” activities that involve pets visiting people. The same activity can be repeated with many people, unlike a therapy program that is tailored to a particular person or medical condition.
Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a