Give the Gift of Pet Therapy

Stumped for what to give this holiday season? (I mean, of course, besides giving copies of Fit As Fido to all of your friends!) Want to make a real difference? Then give the gift of pet therapy!
Researchers at Mass General Hospital recently published their findings of the benefit to patients who had received pet therapy visits. Having a pet visit made patients feel calm, energized, and less anxious and depressed. Pain levels reported by patients also dropped.

Benefits from receiving a pet therapy visit included:

- 4 percent slower breathing rate
- 23 percent drop in pain severity
- 19 percent boost in energy
- 53 percent drop in anxiety
- 48 percent decrease in depression
- 64 percent drop in feelings of anger
- 39 percent decrease in fatigue

This study highlights what Wheatie and I find during our pet therapy rounds. Once patients’ eyes light on Wheatie, there’s a whole change in their demeanor — they look brighter and more alert and even sit up straighter in their beds. Do you enjoy seeing a child’s eyes light up when they see Santa or that Santa’s filled their stockings? You can see that same look every day in the face of a needy patient who gets a therapy dog visit. There’s nothing like a smiling pooch to make someone temporarily forget about the fears, loneliness, and discomfort of being a patient. One of Wheatie’s patients said it best, “Seeing Wheatie took me out of myself! That’s the first time since I’ve been here that I haven’t just been thinking and worrying about me!”

Of course, since it’s Christmas time, Wheatie sports a jingle bell collar this month, announcing an exciting visit even before we enter patients’ rooms. Tomorrow, he’ll be donning his bells and gathering a basket of treats to hand out to the Sisters at a morning sing-a-long at the Mother House. Christmas morning will have nothing on the joy I’ll see on the Sisters’ faces!

So if you have a dog who might make a good therapy dog, check out these tips of getting started in pet therapy. And if your dog has already been certified, take a break from the season’s hustle and bustle and give a priceless gift to someone — a visit from your therapy dog!