Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), which involves the use of dogs and other animals to aid humans, began in the field of clinical and counseling psychology. Gradually, AAT has emerged as a process where a beneficial interaction takes place between a companion animal and a client. At first, there was primarily anecdotal evidence regarding the effectiveness of this type of therapy, but recently the effectiveness has been demonstrated with a wide variety of populations. While the focus of previous studies has been primarily on using dogs as an adjunct to traditional therapy, or as a change agent motivating the client to develop, the field has recently become more focused on the question of whether therapy dogs can be beneficial in realms outside of those traditionally associated with clinical and counseling psychology.
This relatively new
field of study represents a multidisciplinary approach to investigating
the interactions of people and
animals. A plethora of new and exciting
findings have revealed that dogs tend to have a positive impact on
people. For example, the presence of a dog
tends to
lower blood pressure even during the execution of stressful cognitive
tasks
(Allen, Shykoff, Izzo, 2001). Dog
ownership is associated with lower cardiac risk factors and increased
1-year
survival rate after a myocardial infarction (Friedman & Thomas,
1995). The presence of a dog in a nursing
home is
associated with a reduced need for medication, improved physical
functioning, and
improved vital signs among residents (Fontaine, Briggs, &
Pope-Smith,
2001). Elderly people with pets make
fewer visits to the doctor (Siegel, 1990), and walk significantly
farther when
they walked with a dog than without a dog (Herbert & Greene, 2001).
More specifically relevant to our project are results that show that talking to pets, compared with other people, is associated with lower cardiac responses (Lunch, 1985). The presence of a pet in a classroom has a positive impact on a variety of cognitive and social variables (Hergovich, Monshi, Semmler, & Zieglmayer, 2002). The presence of a pet reduces the blood pressure in children reading aloud (Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Lunch, & Messent, 1983). An innovative program called READ (Reading Education Assistance Dogs) showed impressive results; all of the students who participated in the program for thirteen months gained at least two grade levels and some of the students gained four grade levels (Jalongo, Astorino, & Bomboy, 2004).
Our project focuses on whether interacting with a dog will help
children with
cognitive development, specifically we are interested in the
development of
gross motor skills, as well as the development of language and
cognition. For several years now, Dr. Gee
has been
taking her two certified therapy dogs; Louie and Nikki, to visit with
the
children in the Youngerman Preschool.
The children get to pet the dogs, feed the dogs treats, play
ball with
the dogs, and get them to do tricks through the use of commands (both
verbal
and hand signals), and perform a variety of motor skills tasks (games)
with the dogs. Anecdotal reports
from parents, teachers, and from our own observations indicate that the
dogs seem to be helping the children to improve their spontaneous
generation of
language and their motor skills.
Our research project focuses primarily on language and motor development, although we track other data as well (e.g., facial expressions, body posture, ect). We have been working with the staff (teachers, clinic supervisors, and occupational therapist) to develop tasks and activities that are consistent with their current curriculum and that could help all of the children in their language and motor development. Parental consent was obtained prior to our bringing the dogs into the classroom, and as a direct result of the positive outcomes of these visits the dogs have been integrated into the curriculum of the class. The dogs have regular weekly visits with the children and we work on specific curriculum goal related activities during those visits.