human-animal bond
Therapy dogs bring calm, comfort, and connection to hospitals, schools, and homes, offering unconditional presence that medicine and words alone can’ t replace.
Walk into a hospital or an oldage home and you might meet a dog in a blue vest with a very important job to do. That’ s most likely a therapy dog.
What is a therapy dog?
A therapy dog should not be confused with a service dog or emotional support animal, though the three roles do get mixed up all the time, says Edith Kriel, founder of Jelly Beanz – an organisation that works with children dealing with trauma.“ Most service dogs have a specific task and a specific person they’ re focused on. A guide dog, for example, focuses entirely on its handler. An emotional support dog is constantly tuned into one person.”
Toffee Beanz, Jelly Beanz’ s prized fur therapist, formally known as a facility dog, is there for everyone. She interacts with multiple people and supports whoever needs her.“ That’ s the big distinction,” Edith adds. Therapy dogs are trained to provide comfort, affection and stress relief to many different people.
Think of them as volunteers with fur – their job is to be calm, friendly and tolerant while strangers( in the case of Toffee, vulnerable children) pet them.
What makes a good therapy dog
Not every dog can be a therapy dog.“ The best breeds for therapy work are peopleorientated service dogs such as Golden Retrievers and Labradors,” adds Edith.
Then there’ s the training. For Toffee, socialisation and obedience training were important.“ Then we looked specifically at what we wanted her to do at Jelly Beanz, and worked on those skills.”
Therapy dogs are often trained to handle crowds, loud sounds, and being touched everywhere by strangers – they must not
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