For as long as dogs have been man’s companions, they’ve been known for their ability to relate to humans. That’s especially true of service or therapy dogs. We talked to representatives of top organizations across the country that train dogs to help people in a variety of ways.
From providing anxiety relief for stressed-out college students and veterans with PTSD, to comforting hospital patients and tragedy victims, therapy and service animals make a big difference in many lives.
One study in the Australian Social Monitor found that a dip in doctor visits could be tied to a rise in pet ownership, which resulted in $3.86 billion in health-care cost savings over a decade. Another medical study in Public Health Reports points to pet ownership as one reason some patients lowered their blood pressure and have higher one-year survival rates following heart attacks.
No matter how big or small their roles, here are tales of service animals and some of their most impressive feats.
Medical-Alert Aids
Ikenberry recalls the case of a diabetic client who experienced a seizure-like episode. His blood sugar dropped to a level at which he couldn’t move, putting him in danger of further hypoglycemia. Recognizing the situation, his service dog immediately went into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, found a juice box and brought it to him. “He credits his dog with saving his life that night,” Ikenberry says.
Another patient with Tourette’s syndrome was unable to attend a full day of school without experiencing involuntary tics. A service dog named Mack was trained to lie across her midsection when she felt an attack coming on. This therapy helped reduce the length of her attacks from hours to minutes.
Mobility Assistance
“Having worked in the assistance dog industry for more than 20 years, I could fill pages and pages with stories,” says Deb Davis, the community outreach manager at Paws With a Cause, an assistance dog provider.
Davis tells the story of a woman with a rare physical disability that compromised her mobility. After becoming light-headed one day and falling and hitting her head, the woman had her dog Argon go get her phone, allowing her to call for help before passing out. “The ER doctor said that she might have bled to death, had it not been for Argon,” says Davis.
Smiles For Hospital Patients
“A patient who hadn’t responded to any stimulus showed signs of reactions when he petted a German shepherd that sat next to him on the bed,” recalls McGuire. Research from the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University shows that anxiety levels of patients are greatly reduced after even brief interactions with a dog prior to procedures, and has found that the pups benefit the staff as well: The research found that the stress hormone cortisol is significantly reduced after only five minutes with a therapy dog.
Grief Relief For Tragedy Victims
After the nightclub attack in Orlando, Fla., Lutheran Church Charities flew a team of K-9 comfort dogs to aid the families of victims following the shooting that took nearly 50 lives. These dogs play a great role in helping provide companionship and comfort for family members, says Tim Hetzner, president of Lutheran Church Charities, which has 130 comfort dogs in 23 states. The dogs sent to Orlando have their own business cards and even Facebook pages so people can stay in touch with them afterward.
“While you’re not supposed to pet some service dogs, our vests say ‘pet me’—we’re there to hug, to show mercy and compassion to as many people as possible,” Hetzner says.
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By Nicole Cherie Jones
