Last week we posted a picture of Sake, one of our ex SPA dogs, working as a therapy dog in an old folks home on our facebook page and we were surprised at some of the comments, so tonight’s blog is to explain the role of a therapy dog and also the benefits to both the dog and to humans.
A therapy dog is trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, schools, hospices and to people with learning difficulties.
Its well known that interaction with a gentle, friendly pet has both physical and mental health benefits. It lowers blood pressure and releases endorphins which have a calming effect and reduce pain. Petting a friendly dog or cat lifts moral, reduces boredom, lowers anxiety and increases communication.
On Monday I went along both to help and to see for myself and I have to say I was really impressed! When we arrived we did a quick tour of the dayroom to say hello. You could see the expression changing on patients faces, they smiled and were very interested in their special visitor! I bet lots of these old folk had owned a pet at one time and were remembering happy times!
We then went into a treatment room where we worked with a group of 5 elderly people. Most of these patients had varying degrees of mobility problems so we began with letting them pet the dog and brush him. This encouraged them to talk and to move their arms and hands. They all smiled when it was their turn, it was truly amazing to see a little smile appear on a previously blank expression! The patients who were mobile then had a little walk with Sake. To keep everyone nice and safe we used two leashes, the patient held one leash encouraging them to grip and pull whilst we held the other leash. Of course the patients confined to a wheelchair didn’t miss out on this fun and also had a walk, again they held the leash as we pushed them along. Next was a game of hoops where the patients put a collar like hoop on the dogs neck and then took it off. Again this was encouraging gripping, stretching and movement. The highlight of the day for Sake was when the patients used their bare feet to gently massage him. Gosh he really loved that, as did the patients!
Not all doggies could be or would want to be a therapy dog. They must be friendly, patient, confident, gentle , calm and most of all enjoy human contact. They also need to know certain commands such as come, stay, sit, down, no, off and ok.
So what does the dog get out of this? Well some dogs love to interact and be petted by humans. They thrive on the attention and interactions and seeing Sake’s happy demeanour and waggy tail I would say he certainly enjoyed his visit as much as the patients did.
A year ago Sake was abandoned at the SPA and now he has a fantastic life which he shares with several other dogs, horses ,donkeys and a lama. The lama has also visited the old people’s home, now that I would have loved to see! We are very proud of him!
Who wouldnt love this?