By Madeline Kelly
It's finals week, and you've been camped out in the library until 3 a.m. every night, surviving on your fifth cup of coffee today. After wrapping up your third exam, you still have a paper due at midnight tonight.
On your way back to the library to tackle the grueling task ahead, you stumble across a room filled with your favorite furry friends.
It's "therapy dog" time, and you couldn't have found a better relief from the stress.
But what exactly is a therapy dog, and why do we find ourselves feeling so much after turning to these lovable, furry heroes when life feels overwhelming?
It turns out, there is a good scientific reason for it.
Dogs for therapy
The relationship between dogs and humans goes back almost 15,000 years ago when wild wolves were domesticated in East Asia. Our ancestors benefited from these canine companions by using them to assist with travel, hunting, and protection.
As humans evolved, dogs became more integrated into daily life and less essential for survival. This bond grew over time, resulting in a distinct partnership that extended beyond just utility.
In the Civil War, dogs served as morale boosters and emotional support to soldiers on the battlefield. Sallie, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, was the mascot for this during the Civil War, providing emotional comfort to injured soldiers during these battles.
Fast forward to the 20th century, when dogs became recognized as service animals, especially for individuals with disabilities. Modern service dogs are trained to assist with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities, from conditions like PTSD to visual impairments.
The American Heart Association even released research endorsing dog ownership for its role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
As mental health awareness grows, dogs are increasingly recognized for their therapeutic benefits. Emotional support and therapy animals now help people manage conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Dogs play a major role in emotional support, therapy, and other disability services. Their evolution from hunting partners to modern support animals reflects the enduring bond between humans and dogs.
The therapeutic abilities of dogs
About a decade ago, the Cougar Countdown Committee at the College of Charleston came up with the idea of bringing dogs on campus to provide emotional support and stress relief to students during midterms and finals weeks.
During some of the most stress-filled times of the semester, students find much-needed relief in spending time with furry friends.
Rachael McNamara, director of the Office of Student Wellness and Wellbeing, says therapy dog events have become super popular among students – with “almost 100 percent” of those surveyed expressing a desire for the dogs to return.
“Petting a dog is nothing like reading a textbook or studying, so it gives a break to students during finals,” McNamara says.
Research from several studies of humans and dogs shows that when humans and dogs interact, whether through petting or cuddling, it releases “the hormone oxytocin in the system” – also known as the “feel-good” hormone.
It's not just us that feel good from this connection – our furry friends get the same happy rush, showing a bond that's pure, mutual love.
A study of university students found that after interacting with therapy dogs, 92.9% reported feeling less stressed.
Along with the positive emotional effects that therapy dogs give, they also help students connect with other classmates. Striking a conversation with another student is far less intimidating when you have an adorable dog to break the ice.
“This is a really good opportunity to meet people in a non-threatening setting,” McNamara says.
The therapy dog events at CofC help students form connections and relieve homesickness during the most stressful parts of their college careers and are just one example of the growing presence of support animals in the Charleston community.
Therapy dogs transform care and offer healing
Charleston's PAWS program at MUSC partners with volunteers and their certified therapy dogs to offer patients an alternative form of care.
These therapy dogs assist individuals dealing with a range of medical issues, from mental health disorders to physical rehabilitation after surgeries or injuries.
“The benefits appear to be due to a combination of the service dog's specific trained tasks and aspects inherent to cohabitating with a pet dog, including having a source of love, nonjudgmental social support, and companionship."
By integrating therapy dogs into individual treatment plans, PAWS provides unique comfort to help patients in their recovery process – both mentally and physically. It gives patients at MUSC the rare opportunity to have a therapy dog assist in their healing.
“MUSC understands that this is a very innovative but successful way to help patients,” says PAWS program coordinator, Cathy Bennett.
The dedicated volunteers who train and offer their animals for the PAWS program
“have helped put a spotlight on what these dogs are capable of doing which has taken us into different realms of possibilities that years ago, people would have never thought about,” says Bennett.
Caroline Hunt, a volunteer with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, recalls a dramatic moment when her therapy-certified German shepherd “may have saved a child's life”.
"The child, suffering from a severe breathing crisis, was calmed by the dog’s presence, allowing their medication to take effect," she said, adding that the now University of South Carolina graduate is headed for law school.
Bennett recalled a story of a man with Parkinson's who had a lot of anxiety over the fear of what would be happening to him.
Despite trying different medications, his anxiety escalated during mobility exercises, causing his heart rate and blood pressure to spike. As part of his therapy, a dog was brought in wearing a special vest with buttons, zippers, and snaps to help mimic the actions involved in getting dressed.
This unique therapy allowed him to practice these tasks in a calmer state and improved his own mobility over time.
These success stories highlight how dog therapy goes far beyond emotional support, showing its effectiveness in physical rehabilitation and practical skill-building as well.
So, what is it about the bond between humans and dogs that makes it so effective in helping people during treatment?
It triggers brain responses similar to those seen between mothers and their children, activating regions associated with reward, emotion, and affiliation, which fosters a deep sense of love.
“Pure, unconditional love—taught by the dog to the human,” Bennett adds.
Researchers have discovered that the mental boost and pain relief therapy dogs provide make patients feel “significantly less burdened by the disease in their daily lives,” and that “therapeutic-dog sessions had a large effect on patients’ quality of life.”
Hunt highlights a gap in awareness and availability of dog therapy, especially in settings where it could make a real difference.
Therapy dog volunteers “see all kinds of hospital patients and psychiatric patients that would benefit from animal-assisted therapy and there isn’t enough of it, because people don’t know enough about it,” Hunt says.
Therapy dogs are trained to assist people in airports, rehabilitation centers, and even disaster sites.
Bennett adds to this perspective, noting the impact therapy dogs have on those unfamiliar with their benefits.
“It’s unique to see people who have never envisioned or experienced therapy dogs in a hospital,” Bennett says. “There's just so much out there that we don't know, that these dogs continue to show us through these incredible stories.”
Misconceptions about emotional support animals
You may be wondering what the difference is between a therapy dog, an emotional support dog, and a service dog – and why these animals cause so much controversy in public places.
“People not understanding the distinction between service animals, therapy animals, and emotional support animals creates a controversy because people will associate them in the same group,” Hunt explains.
To be clear, service animals “are individually trained to perform specific tasks and to work with people with disabilities,” which gives them legal rights from the American with Disabilities Act to be in public places.
Emotional support animals are not legally protected ADA and therefore are not automatically allowed in public places.
Therapy dogs require training, a license, and to be insured whereas emotional support animals primarily just provide mental and emotional comfort to their owners.
“All three are in their own category,” Bennett explains.
Erin Robillard, a case manager at Sheppard Pratt, frequently witnesses this misconception and notes that this misunderstanding leads to negative public reactions that causes stress for patients.
“I think there's a lot of misconceptions in terms of what is the benefit of having a dog – a service dog really stands for what it means and I think people kind of view it as an excuse to be able to bring your dog into the grocery store or on an airplane, and don't really fully see the big picture of how that dog is providing a lot of stability and regulation for their owner,” Robillard says.
Individuals with disabilities benefit from having a trained and certified service animal accompanying them in public places.
However, there's growing concern that the term ‘emotional support animal’ is being overused, with some people unnecessarily bringing their pets into restricted areas, like restaurants and planes, which worsens this confusion.
This misuse not only creates confusion but also undermines the legitimacy of animals trained specifically for therapeutic support which limits understanding and hinders broader use for healing.
The widespread use of social media brings more attention to situations where people use the
term ‘emotional support animal’ to bring
non-essential animals with them to public places.
“When there are problems, like people taking an emotional support snake on a plane, it's all over social media,” Hunt notes.
With headlines like ‘Emotional support" boa constrictor discovered by TSA’ and ‘Peacocks, ducks and doomed hamsters: The wildest emotional support animal travel stories’ popping up on social media feeds, it's no wonder so many have developed a lack of seriousness toward support animals in general.
Sensationalized media portrayals of misuse create confusion, leading to negative associations that overshadow the genuine impact support animals have on people's lives.
Future of dog-human companionship
Therapy animals may start making more regular visits to the CofC campus.
The CofC dog therapy event is “such a positive experience that [they’re] in the process of trying to change the College’s policy about employees being able to bring their therapy dogs to campus,” McNamara says.
This change to the current Policy on Pets on Campus would permit therapy dogs on the CofC campus, giving students and faculty specific permission to bring them.
The positive impact of therapy dog events on students has inspired faculty members who own therapy dogs to advocate for more frequent visits, providing “more opportunities for students to interact with them in a calmer setting” and “on a more regular basis,” she adds.
So far, the response of having therapy dogs on the CofC campus beyond the dog therapy event has been very positive.
The CofC women’s soccer team welcomed Truman, a golden retriever therapy dog from MUSC, to the team. – Truman provides emotional support by helping them cope with the stress of college athletics.”
At MUSC, Cathy Bennett believes the future of the PAWS program and its potential to help more patients is only going to grow.
“Where we have watched and seen the utilization of therapy dogs kind of evolve, we are super excited,” Bennett says.
Educating the public is essential to raising awareness on the benefits of therapy dogs and Bennett explains that at MUSC “we’re always teaching”.
Bennett and her team at MUSC educate potential volunteers on how they and their dogs can get involved in this meaningful work.
“If you can zero in on that dog's talent and recognize that this dog truly has a gift, then you share that with people,” says Bennett.
Bennett explains that these services bring a sense of purpose to the volunteers, their animals, and the patient – fostering a truly mutual and beneficial experience.
“It is such a connection to purpose for you
because you're recognizing just those few minutes changes a person's life from an emotional perspective”.
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