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In recent years health-care professionals have noticed the therapeutic effect of animal companionship: relieving stress, lowering blood pressure, raising spirits, and making contact with people who have become withdrawn. Therapy dogs have been enlisted to help children overcome speech and emotional disorders. The concept has widened to include many other species: cats, rabbits, birds, miniature horses, and ferrets included.
The most important feature of a therapy dog is a good temperament. Patience, gentleness, friendliness, confidence, and ease with strangers are all essential qualities in a therapy dog. Therapy dogs must be content to be petted and handled, sometimes clumsily. A therapy dog's primary job is to allow unfamiliar people to make physical contact with him and to enjoy that contact. Many dogs add to the visiting experience by performing small tricks for their audiences or by playing carefully structured games.
Therapy dogs are not service dogs. They are not covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Service dogs are trained to assist an individual, and have a legal right to accompany their owners. Therapy dogs do not provide direct assistance, do not have legal rights to travel everywhere, and must be invited by institutions. Most institutions have rigorous requirements for therapy dogs. |
