Pet Assisted Therapy

Pet Assisted Therapy

Tiffany Wieland
California State University, Fresno

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Pet Assisted Therapy

Pet Assisted Therapy
Pet assisted therapy involves a beneficial interaction between a trained animal and
an individual. Using pets as a therapeutic tool can help assist in improving mental disorders and
health issues as well as bringing balance back to ones life. They also have a remarkable bond
with humans and may help in assisting with physical, emotional, cognitive and social
functioning. It also involves structured and planned meetings that help a patient or client reach
the goal within their treatment. The most commonly used pets are dogs and cats but guinea pigs,
fish, birds and other pets can meet the screening requirements as well. The goals within pet
assisted therapy might be to improve fine-motor skills, decrease anxiety, develop social skills,
improve independent movement and increase self-esteem (Georgi). In my research I noticed that
there were many different studies done with dogs and I learned that there was a very cut and
clear difference between a service dog and a therapy dog. A service dog is trained for a specific
individual and will assist in a different way than the therapy dog. The service dog might be
trained to recognize the onset of a seizure and alert their owner, or listen for the doorbell at home
for an individual who is deaf. The therapy dog is usually registered and handled by their owner
and will most likely partake in different settings and activities
(http://therapeuticrecreationcenter.com/what-is-animal-assisted-therapy/).
Cerebral Palsy
One population that may benefit from pet assisted therapy are those who have developed
cerebral palsy. Dog assisted therapy is widely used and has been found to be very beneficial in
improving certain physical functions. Also, many people bond easily with animals so they make
a great tool in pursuing rehabilitation beyond the emotional reasons. Cerebral palsy is a

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neurological condition that limits motor functioning and may require rehabilitation to work
towards any improvements. According to a study performed on child with cerebral palsy in 2004,
dog assisted therapy was found to be successful. The four-year-old boy had a low awareness to
the right side of his body due to high muscle tonus. Also, his upper and lower extremities were at
risk of deformity formation and muscle shortness. This caused him to favor the left side of his
body during planned movements. In order to address this impairment, the therapist wanted to
provide stimulation to his right side and enhance his muscle tonus regulation along with
increasing active motility. The goal for the child was to enjoy the experience of feeding the dog
yogurt from his foot. This increased awareness to his foot by providing a feeling of cold from the
yogurt and then switching to the warmth of the dogs tongue. The child also experienced
vibrations from the licking which led to decreased muscle tonus, relaxation and comfort. It was
very important for the child to engage in active movements right away in order to ease motor
learning. It was concluded that active movements needed to be performed repeatedly in order to
successfully master the motor movement(Elmaci, Cevizci).
There was a second study I found that involved a five-year old boy with bilateral cerebral
palsy. He was more affected by his right side than he was his left. The study was done over the
course of a year and also provided positive results. The therapy dog helped in providing stability
and balance for the boy while he was using different hand movements. The goal of the therapist
was to help provide motivation for the boy when trying to perform physically challenging
activities. With help of the therapy dog, the boy was able to improve in small muscle movement
while standing at the same time. The little boy demonstrated improvements by feeding the dog
pretzels as well as showing it that he can pain (Elmaci, Cevizci).

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Geriatrics
Geriatrics are another population that may benefit from pet assisted therapy. The
company of an animal is found to benefit all ages and may contribute to cognitive enhancement
and potentially lead to a better quality of life. I did find a case-controlled study that examined the
effects of pet assisted therapy and its impact on elder patients with dementia. The patients
selected for the study were at least 65 years of age or older and had been in the institution for at
least two months. There were two groups, one consisting of ten people who were assigned to the
dog therapy group and the other group consisting of 11 people who were the control group.
Before the intervention was implemented they needed to assess their current cognitive position.
They were each given Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) along with a survey that
provided their current self-perceived quality of life. The dogs were well trained and temperament
tested and had experience with persons with mental diseases. The intervention took place in the
nursing home and lasted for six weeks. The dog therapy group met once a week with each
session lasting about 90 minutes. The patients interacted with the four dogs and were required to
talk, walk, stroke, hold and play with them. The patients that were a part of the control group
were allowed to watch the dogs walk into the facility but were not allowed to interact.
Unstructured interaction was not restricted either. At the end of the study the test and survey
were given to the patients again and evaluated. The MMSE showed that there was an
improvement in the cognitive function by 4.5 points for those who did partake in the dog therapy
sessions and an increase of two points for the control group. The dog therapy group also had an
improvement in the self-perceived quality of life survey by five people. One patient actually
reported that they had recalled past memories while nine out of ten patients said they had
experienced a calming effect (Moretti et al., 2010)

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Autism
Children with autism would also be a population that may benefit from pet assisted
therapy. Autism is classified into three social challenges consisting of awkwardness, social
avoidance and social indifference. According to, Guinea Pigs The Small Great Therapist for
Autistic Children (2010), research has revealed that children who have difficulties establishing
relationships with people will have an easier time with animals. There was a study conducted
that observed nine children with autism. Within this study they evaluated three types of social
contacts being tactile, visual and verbal communication. The children were between the ages 6
and 13 and consisted of five boys and four girls. In one situation they would engage with
unfamiliar persons and in the second situation they would engage with unfamiliar acquaintances,
but this time with the guinea pig. The presence of the guinea pig did reveal that there was
improvement with the eye contact as well as tactile contact. One child actually had zero contact
with the first encounter but in the second encounter when he held the guinea pig he provided
verbal contact as well as eye contact. As far as the tactile contact, there were children who would
either pet or just touch the guinea pig. Some preferred to pet it while in the cage while others
took it out to hold. Even though there were five children that did not show a difference, it was
suggested that the guinea pigs did provide a positive improvement for children with autism. It
was also suggested that this study should be done again but with a larger group.

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Pet Assisted Therapy

References

Elmac, D. T., & Cevizci, S. (n.d.). Dog-Assisted Therapies and Activities in

Rehabilitation of Children with Cerebral Palsy and Physical and Mental Disabilities. Retrieved
March 22, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454953/
Georgi, A. Z. (n.d.). Pet Therapy. Retrieved March 20, 2016, from
http://www.healthline.com/health/pet-therapy#Effects2
Krkova, Lucia, Talaroviova, A., & Olexova, L. (n.d.). Guinea Pigs - The "Small Great"
Therapist for Autistic Children. Society and Animals Vol 18, No. 2, (2010), 139-151 Retrieved
March 20, 2016, from http://www.animalsandsociety.org/human-animal-studies/society-andanimals-journal/articles-on-children/guinea-pigs-the-small-great-therapist-for-autistic-children/
Moretti, F., De Ronchi, D., Bernabei, V., Marchetti, L,. Ferrari, B., Florlani, C., Negretti,
F., Sacchetti, C. and Atti, A. R. Pet Therapy in Elderly Patients with Mental Illness.
Psychogeriatrics, 11: 125129. (2010, September 14). Retrieved March 22, 2016, from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1479-8301.2010.00329.x/abstract
Therapeutic Recreation Center. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2016, from
http://therapeuticrecreationcenter.com/what-is-animal-assisted-therapy/

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