What is the role of a therapy dog?

 

Unlocking Communication would like to introduce to you our Trainee Therapy Dog ‘Ruby’.

Ruby is an 18-month-old Golden Labrador, who is currently working her way through her therapy dog training.

Ruby loves cuddles, running around doing zoomies, and playing with her squeaky pig. Her favourite food is cheese. Ruby’s best friend is Bruno, a fox-red Labrador (see photo).

Within the next few months, she will go on to complete her assessments and certification, meaning she can then join us for sessions, as well as running her own therapy sessions.

 

What does a therapy dog do I hear you say?

The purpose of therapy dogs is to provide people with comfort when they need it, as well as their handlers. Their warm and friendly disposition often encourages them to interact calmly with their communication partners. Therapy dogs have been proven to:

·       Improve mental health.

·       Improve socialising.

·       Increase individual engagement.

·       Increasing children’s confidence to read out loud.

·       They can also aid physical rehabilitation, for example with walking and improving certain physical skills.

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) was introduced by Florence Nightingale when therapy pets were introduced. A published article in 1860 stated ‘a small pet is often an excellent companion for the sick’. Dr Sigmund Freud followed this line of thinking by using dogs to calm anxious individuals.

 

Here is some interesting research that was completed by E, Thelwell (2019), with enough evidence to conclude that ‘interacting with a pet dog considerably reduces anxiety and feelings of sadness and improves happiness scores’.

file:///C:/Users/Student/Downloads/animals-09-00846-v3.pdf

 

Why will Ruby benefit those with Speech, Language, and Communication needs?

Involving a dog in speech therapy during sessions gives them lots of opportunities to bond with the dog, creating natural exposure to vocabulary.

Here at Unlocking Communication, our clinical work is founded on the evidence base, which is where Ruby will come in. Evidence suggests, as we mentioned above that communicating with an animal, specifically a dog reduces anxiety and stress levels. Often, individuals with Learning disabilities, Selective mutism, other Speech, Language, and Communication difficulties, and autistic individuals naturally have increased anxiety and stress levels.

Using Ruby as a non-judgmental conversation partner will naturally reduce those anxiety levels, therefore increasing the individual's self-confidence, and naturally increasing their engagement within sessions, thus improving their overall well-being and quality of life.

Keep your eyes open for some ‘Ruby Drop-in Sessions’ that will be coming up.

If you would like some further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:

Katie@unlockingcommunication.co.uk

 

References:

Thelwell, E.L.R. (2019) ‘Paws for thought: A controlled study investigating the benefits of interacting with a house-trained dog on university students mood and anxiety’, Animals, 9(10), pp. 1–25. doi:10.3390/ani9100846.