Are Therapy Dogs Always Stressed?

While reading an outstanding new book called Transforming Trauma: Resilience and Healing Through Our Connections With Animals in preparation for an interview with its editors, Philip Tedeschi and Molly Anne Jenkins, I came across a sentence in an essay by Ann Howie and her colleagues titled "Why the Dog?" that somewhat surprised me and to which I've returned a number of times. It reads: "The authors believe that it is impossible to completely avoid stress for a therapy dog, yet it is entirely possible to avoid therapy dog distress." (p. 316) The quotation comes from an essay that was being considered for publication at the time "Why the Dog?" was written, but now has been published by Ashley Melco and her colleagues with the title, "Investigation of Physiological and Behavioral Responses in Dogs Participating in Animal-Assisted Therapy with Children Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder." Neither "Why the Dog?" nor the published study is available online, so here are a few snippets to whet your appetite for finding out more about them. And although I'm focusing on dogs, there's no reason to believe that other animals used for therapy and for other animal-assisted interventions (AAI) aren't also always somewhat stressed. Another essay in Transforming Trauma by Zenithson Ng, called "Advocacy and Rethinking Our Relationships with Animals: Ethical Responsibilities and Competencies in Animal-Assisted Interventions," is also concerned with some of the issues about which I write below. I hope all of these essays will become available for free online.

What's in it for the dog?

Many people are concerned with the well-being of dogs and other nonhuman animals (animals) who are used in animal-assisted interventions. At coffee shops, hiking trails, dog parks, and other venues, I'm often asked questions such as, "Are support dogs happy with their jobs?"; "Do therapy dogs really enjoy what they're doing?"; and "What's in it for the dog?" I also often hear comments such as: "Those dogs aren't really happy" or "Those support dogs always look distressed."

When I talk with people who ask these and other questions or who make similar comments about the compromised lives of therapy dogs, I usually explain the difference between positive or beneficial stress (eustress) and aversive stress or distress. (See "Working for Food Enriches Dogs' Lives and Breaks the Boredom" for further discussion.)

While dogs and other animals used to support humans can have very difficult jobs, many who I've met have very good lives and aren't necessarily suffering more than homed dogs who aren't specifically used for any type of support. While it might seem like the lives of homed dogs are cushy and without stress, this isn't so at all. (See Canine Confidential, Unleashing Your Dog, "Dogs, Captivity, and Freedom: Unleash Them Whenever You Can," and references therein.) Homed dogs, for the most part, are captive beings who live highly constrained lives. I focus on homed dogs, because while they represent a tiny fraction of the global population of dogs, estimated to be around 900 million, these are the canine beings with whom most people are familiar and who are used for various types of human support. Someone suggested to me that these also are the dogs with whom most researchers are most familiar. It's also been estimated that around 85 percent of dogs are free-ranging individuals, some of who have some human assistance, and others who have none.

Referring to dogs as captive animals is not meant to criticize humans who choose to take dogs into their homes and hearts. Rather, it is a fact of dogs having to adapt to human-dominated environs. Suffice it to say, companion dogs live highly constrained lives and want and need much more than they usually get from us. However, as discussed in Unleashing Your Dog and elsewhere, there's a lot we can easily do to give them considerably more freedom and allow them to express their dogness. (See "Dogs Want and Need Much More Than They Usually Get From Us.")

Think about it: We teach dogs that they can’t pee or poop wherever they want. To eliminate, they must get our attention and ask for permission to go outside the house. When we go outside, we often restrain dogs with a leash or fence them within yards or parks. Dogs eat what, when, and how we feed them, and they are scolded if they eat what or when we say they shouldn’t. Dogs play with the toys we give them, and they get in trouble for turning our shoes and furniture into toys. Most of the time, our schedule and relationships determine who dogs play with and where and who their friends will be. It’s an asymmetric, one-sided relationship, one that many of us would not tolerate with another human. Simply put, just about all homed dogs want and need more freedoms.

The dog or other animals' well-being must come first

"My therapy dog is the most important animal in the world to me. He must be happy, and when he is happy, I am happy. When I see that he is distressed, I step back and allow him to rest and to recuperate. There are times when I really need him, but I leave him alone until he is ready to work. I do the best I can without his 100 percent support." (In conversation with a war veteran suffering from PTSD.)

Returning to Ann Howie and her colleague's piece "Why the Dog" and their discussion of the study by Ashley Melco and her colleagues, after they write, "The authors believe that it is impossible to completely avoid stress for a therapy dog, yet it is entirely possible to avoid therapy dog distress," they go on to note that there are steps that people using therapy dogs can take to avoid distress. These include becoming fluent in dog, or dog literate; matching dogs with clients who will work with dog's "strengths, abilities, and temperament;" developing "handling skills that support the individual dog rather increase stress;" developing and being willing to implement a plan to be sure that the therapy dog's welfare during and after a session are being given careful attention; being aware when a dog's well-being is threatened or compromised; allowing the dog to recover after each session; and giving the dog time-off and vacations. (See "Living With a Dog Is Good, If It's Good for You and the Dog," "How to Give Dogs the Best Lives Possible in a Human World," "iSpeakDog: A Website Devoted to Becoming Dog Literate," "How Well Do You Know What Dogs Do, Think, and Feel?", and "New Study Shows Importance of Understanding Dog Behavior" for discussions of how knowing what dogs are saying to us can help us learn if they're in pain or doing well.)

I would add that if a dog cannot adapt to the situation in which she or he is being asked to perform, they should not be used. Not all dogs or other animals are cut out for providing therapy or other AAIs. In an interview I conducted with Risë VanFleet, a licensed psychologist, registered play therapist-supervisor, and certified dog behavior consultant, and Tracie Faa-Thompson, a specialist social worker in the adoption field and a British Association of Play Therapist, about their book, titled Animal Assisted Play Therapy, they stressed that our relationships with our companion animals are often one-sided. When we look at the many articles and blogs that are written about animals in therapy, they usually extol the benefits for humans, but they rarely discuss the impact on the animals. The accompanying pictures show a delighted human and a thoroughly stressed or miserable animal. It is better for everyone—client, animal, and therapist—when the needs of the animals are always considered and acted upon. (See "Animal Assisted Play Therapy: An Integrative Approach.")

It can't be emphasized too many times that matching dogs with clients who will work with dogs' "strengths, abilities, and temperament" is critical. The bottom line can be simply stated as follows: There is no universal dog—no "the dog"—so normative generalizations simply do not reflect who dogs truly are. Thus, the unique personality of each dog, each human, and their relationship must always come first. It's also essential to realize that dogs, humans, and the nature of their relationships can change with time. Each and every dog-human relationship needs to be considered on a case-by -case basis.

Ann Howie and her colleagues also write about "The Therapy Dog's Bill of Rights," which includes 13 rights of a therapy dog. These include having the right to a handler who "Obtains my consent to participate in the work;" Provides gentle training to help me understand what I'm supposed to do;" "Provides a well-rounded life with nutritious food, physical and intellectual exercise, social time, and activities beyond work;" and "Respects my desire to retire from work when I think it is time." I encourage all people who work with dogs and who choose to live with dogs to read this Bill of Rights over and over again and to apply it to all canine companions.

Ashley Melco and her colleagues conclude, "The results indicate that with proper supervision and well-trained therapy staff, including suitable therapy dogs and their handlers, canine stress can be minimal in a therapy setting." It is essential that everything that can be done to minimize all sorts of stress be used, and if the situation is too stressful for a dog, she or he should not be used.

Where to from here? Are therapy dogs more stressed or distressed than homed dogs?

In Unleashing Your Dog, Jessica Pierce and I adapted and expanded the original Five Freedoms into Ten Freedoms that should guide our interactions with dogs and other nonhumans. The Five Freedoms are a popular cornerstone of animal welfare. First developed in 1965 and formalized in 1979 by the UK’s Farm Animal Welfare Council, the Five Freedoms were designed to address some of the worst welfare problems experienced by animals used within industrial farming (or “factory farming”). Since their development, the Five Freedoms have been applied to an increasingly broad range of captive animals, such as those living in zoos and research labs. Zenithson Ng's essay in Transforming Trauma also includes a discussion of the Five Freedoms.

Freedoms one to five focus on freedoms from uncomfortable or aversive experiences. Freedoms six to ten focus on freedoms to be dogs or whoever the other animals are. Like all animals, dogs and other animals need the following:

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst

2. Freedom from pain

3. Freedom from discomfort

4. Freedom from fear and distress

5. Freedom from avoidable or treatable illness and disability

6. Freedom to be themselves

7. Freedom to express normal behavior

8. Freedom to exercise choice and control

9. Freedom to frolic and have fun

10. Freedom to have privacy and “safe zones”

Many, if not most dogs love to play, to frolic, and to have fun. I well remember a woman confined to a wheel chair who had a therapy dog. Despite the risks, she told me she allowed a friend to take him to a local dog park or on a long walk or hike every single day. She recognized he might get over-tired or sprain an ankle, but she insisted that he be allowed to have fun and that he was happier when he could romp around with friends and just be free. She felt good about it, and it was a win-win for all.

Here are 10 ways to make all dogs, including therapy dogs, happier and more content:

1. Let your dog be a dog.

2. Teach your dog how to thrive in human environments.

3. Have shared experiences with your dog.

4. Be grateful for how much your dog can teach you.

5. Make life an adventure for your dog.

6. Give your dog as many choices as possible.

7. Make your dog’s life interesting by providing variety in feeding, walking, and making friends.

8. Give your dog endless opportunities to play.

9. Give your dog affection and attention every day.

10. Be loyal to your dog.

Stay tuned for further discussions of the lives of therapy dogs and other nonhumans and for my interview with Philip Tedeschi and Molly Anne Jenkins. The formal study on which I'm focusing by Ashley Melco and her colleagues is very interesting and important; however, it's limited to a relatively small number of dogs (9), and the specific situation with which it was concerned (children with ADHD). We need many more comparative studies, because we really don't know if therapy dogs considered as a whole are any more stressed or distressed than, for example, homed dogs. While some people think they are, at present it's a matter of speculation.

My best guess is that research will show that while some therapy dogs are more stressed and distressed than other homed dogs, some aren't. General comparisons across groups are very limited in meaning. The critical assessment of how a dog is feeling must focus on each and every individual. What works for one or some dogs might not work for others. As I wrote above, the unique personality of each dog, each human, and their relationship must always come first, and dogs, humans, and the nature of their relationships can change with time. Each dog-human relationship needs to be considered over time on a case-by-case basis.

The increasing popularity of all sorts of therapy dogs demands that we openly discuss what their lives are like, how we can make them better, and when a decision has to be made that an individual dog simply is not cut out for this sort of work.

What an exciting time it is to study dog behavior and all varieties of dog-human interactions. The more we learn, the better it will be for all dogs and their humans—a win-win for all.