HEALTH - Therapy Dogs Provide Comfort in Funeral Homes

It’s become the norm to see therapy animals in hospitals and seniors residences, but now they are also working in funeral homes.

(Lulu)

Goldendoodle Lulu has been a ‘staff member’ at Ballard-Durand Funeral & Cremation Services since May 2015.

Her role is to provide comfort and healing to people who are grieving the loss of a loved one.

Matthew Fiorillo, president of the White Plains, New York, funeral home, told TODAY, "She's developed an uncanny knack for knowing who needs her. She'll park herself right next to an older person to let them pet her one minute and the next she's prancing around with kids. It's been really impressive to watch."

"Humans need to touch," Fiorillo said. "Even just petting her can be a subtle distraction from the tremendous amount of grief people are going through."

Lulu's work doesn’t just involve being there for support during the planning of the service, most of the clients request her presence at the service itself.

Hennessey Funeral Home in Spokane, Washington has also brought a dog into their business.

A four-month-old labradoodle puppy named Paddy is currently in training and has been practicing greeting people.

"He'll be able to quietly help out where needed in regard to helping people deal with emotions of grief," Scott Dahl, the managing partner at Hennessey Funeral Home and Paddy's owner, told KHQ News.

Medical studies have proven the benefits of animal therapy programs including a reduction in pain, depression, anxiety and fatigue.

With the variety of programs now in place, from prisons, to airports and funeral homes, it’s clear pet therapy has gained support well beyond the healthcare field.

Therapy Dogs Help Olympic Trial Swimmers

ORLIN WAGNER/AP

The swimmers weren’t the only ones working at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska this last week.

Over 1700 swimmers met to compete for a spot on the U.S. team heading to Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics in August, and about 30 therapy dogs were brought in to help out.

Although most of the athletes didn’t have a chance at a spot, all of them felt the pressure of the event. It’s the only qualifying meet for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team, and even for the swimmers who don’t make the Olympic team it’s an important opportunity to experience big-league competition.

It’s all pretty stressful, which is why Morgan Weinberg, the program and services manager for USA Swimming, got in touch with Domesti-PUPS to bring in the service dogs.

The pups hung out in the athletes lounge, waiting to spring into action for the athletes. (“Spring into action,” in this case, often meant rolling over for a tummy rub or snuggling up for a cuddle.) The dogs worked three-hour shifts, four at a time, so that there were always dogs available in the lounge during the morning preliminaries and all but the last evening final.

Therapy dogs are showing up more and more in high-pressure environments like the swim meet, or in University libraries during finals week.

Domesti-PUPS is just one of many organizations that provide therapy dogs for a variety of situations, from hospitals, hospices, and physical therapy settings to classrooms, schools, and homes.

The non-profit organization even has dogs specifically trained for being petted, since bonding with an animal can sometimes be easier for people than bonding with other people.

Sandy Ludwig, who works with Domesti-PUPS, told The New York Times, “Anywhere there's an elevated level of stress, we can take our dogs and try to de-stress them."

An all-or-nothing meet, with the potential to send an athlete to the Olympics or send them back home, is definitely an environment full of elevated stress, and the pups did their jobs helping the athletes stay calm and focused.

By Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a writer, editor, academic, and animal lover who came late to her appreciation of pets. At 18, a rescue pup named Tasha saved her from a depression and she hasn't looked back. She has worked as the canine behaviour program coordinator for the Calgary Humane Society, and was a dog trainer specializing in working with fearful and reactive dogs for many years. She doesn't have any pets right now, but makes up for it by giving her petsitting clients (and any dogs she comes across on her frequent coffee shop adventures) extra snuggles.

National Therapy Animal Day

National Therapy Animal Day was created in 2015 by Pet Partners to recognize all of the exceptional therapy animals who partner with their human companions to bring comfort and healing to those in need. 

This year, the celebration takes place April 30th.

According to Pet Partners, the goals of National Therapy Animal Day include:

• Recognize and honour therapy animals
• Raise awareness and educate the public about the role therapy animals play in enhancing the health and well being of humans
• Honour the thousands of dedicated handlers (the human members of therapy animal teams) who volunteer their time and compassion during visits.

The Canadian Service Dog Foundation defines three different types of therapy animals.

Therapeutic Visitation Animals are the most commonly used therapy animals. Most often these animals are a family pet whose owner has an interest in sharing the joy of animal companionship with those who may otherwise not have that luxury.

Animal-Assisted Therapy Animals are specifically trained to support the efforts of physical rehabilitation and occupational therapists to meet the needs of a person's recovery program. The animals encourage patients to work on fine motor skills, range of motion, balance, and interactive skills.

Facility Therapy Animals normally reside at the facility in which they are employed. Long-term care facilities, nursing homes, Alzheimers and psychiatric units are all examples of facilities that frequently benefit from their services. These animals are unique in that they generally don't have one owner/handler but rather they work alongside facility staff.

This year Pet Partners is selling special t-shirts and sweatshirts to raise funds for their animal therapy teams. They are available until April 9th.

Therapy Dogs Physically and Emotionally Benefit Children with Cancer

Therapy dogs are occasionally seen in hospitals visiting patients. It is believed that interacting with a dog can reduce stress and blood pressure and improve a patient’s health and quality of life. Researchers are now studying the benefits that these therapy dogs can have. The American Humane Association is leading research on the effects that therapy dogs have on children undergoing cancer treatment.

Amy McCullough is leading the research. McCullough and her team are studying weekly visits with therapy dogs on 51 children with cancer. Early results are showing that dogs are able to reduce patient stress and stabilize their blood pressure and heart rate. Therapy dogs are also decreasing anxiety, stabilizing moods, and increasing patient quality of life.

McCullough and her team are also studying therapy dog behaviour and saliva cortisol levels to examine the impact that these visits are having on the dogs. The knowledge gained from this portion of the study will hopefully benefit dog and handler training.

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Planet Dog Foundation Supports Good Dog Foundation Therapy Dogs

The Good Dog Foundation (GDF) has nearly 1,000 therapy dog/handler teams. The teams visit hospitals, trauma centers, education facilities, nursing homes, and disaster areas. Therapy dogs are able to help people suffering from health ailments, learning disorders, and crises. GDF Founder and Executive Director, Rachel McPherson said, “There is growing demand for animal-assisted therapy services for traumatized and stressed populations. The Planet Dog Foundation is providing a grant to help us fulfill this demand. We feel lucky to have a partner whose goals mesh with ours so completely.”

               

The Planet Dog Foundation (PDF) has provided the GDF with a $15,000 USD grant supporting therapy dog services at select locations. PDF recives funding from the sale of Planet Dog products; 2% of each sale goes directly to PDF. Executive Director of PDF, Kristen Smith said, “The Planet Dog Foundation is committed to supporting those organizations that exemplify excellence and best practices. The Good Dog Foundation delivers model core services while working to establish the highest standards of excellence. We are proud to sponsor their provision of services to a broad spectrum of people in need of animal-assisted therapy.”

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