Service Dog Therapy Essay

-crowd control. Due to my claustrophobic induced anxiety attacks, having a service dog who is trained to stand their ground in crowded situations to form a "personal bubble" would be good for me.

There are between 45 to 55 million dogs per household in America (American Humane Association 2012). Furthermore, according to a national survey, the majority of dog owners chose to get a dog for the companionship as the major reason for having a dog (American Animal Hospital Association, 2004). After all, dogs are nonjudgmental, give unconditional love, can be trusted with our most intimate feelings and emotions, and are highly intelligent. These dog characteristics can significantly enhance the lives of thousands of youth and adults, especially those with disabilities and/or those who live in continuing care facilities. There are approximately 20,000 service dogs in the U.S., which includes 10,000 guide dogs (American Humane Association 2012)

There are 3 different types of service dogs people can have: Emotional Support Animals, Therapy Animals, and Service Animals. Emotional Support Animals have one task and that is to provide comfort and support, emotionally, to someone who needs it and has a documented health condition. Therapy Animals are registered through an agency and their purpose is to provide therapeutic value to those who need it. Service animals are trained to perform tasks the owner simply cannot do on their own, guiding blind people, detecting seizures, helping people who have lost legs or arms.

In the field of therapy, there are numerous of therapy available out there for different type of individuals and situations as well. There is one type of therapy that usually contains people and animal, it is animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic approach that brings animals and individuals with physical and/or emotional needs together to perform the therapy. Animal-assisted therapy tend to be focused on individuals either children or elderly for them to be able to connect with the animal thus feeling comfortable talking with the therapist. Pet therapy works for all ages, whether sick or not (Lanchnit, 2011). Although, this paper, most of the focus is on animal-assisted therapy towards children using dogs.

When an occupational therapist uses animals in their therapy the patient, in this case a child, will be either in their wheelchair or on a therapy mat. If the child is recovering from a brain injury and is experiencing difficulty grooming themselves due to loss of function in an arm, the therapist will ask the child to use their weak arm to pet or brush the dog. As the limb grows stronger, they may add a weight to the wrist to increase their strength. They can also use an adapted brush if the child is having

Dogs may bring happiness to veterans and help them through the rough times in life. PTSD takes the life of copious amounts of veterans each year. If we want to treat PTSD we need to give veterans a friend to be by their side.

Dogs are not just cute and fuzzy friends. Since it has been thousands of years that dogs have been trained to do things for humans, we can now count on dogs to do very specific jobs. For example, the article from the U.S. Department of Justice says, “Service animals are defined as dogs that are

In the wake of the wars, our military’s men and women have experienced things that most people cannot dare to dream of. Although some of them are able to transition into the civilian life, many are left with scars that are mentally and physically traumatic. Rick Yount established Warrior Canine Connection in order to help veterans and their families find a service dog to successfully guide and aid veterans to become stronger and to function better. Service dogs have been around for many years helping veterans get back on their feet and helping them with their disabilities. Post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury affect hundreds of veterans each day. Those who suffer from amputated limbs must rely on others and mechanical devices to function.

For years the dogs have to practise to help also it can take them a while to find a person to take care of. Service dogs are to help people, who have got hurt and who need help.

Dogs , a man’s best friend are now used for medical issues. They are really helpful and can even save our life. A service dog helps in many different ways. For example, dog are great at encouraging communication on adults and kids, helping blind people, and people with anxiety. They are very helpful and needed a lot.

There has been a long history with animals and their natural bonds with humans for many decades now. Dogs have helped people with a multitude of illnesses for some time now, however Americans were not the first to discover this natural trait in animals. The Germans during World War 1 were the first to discover this. In the book, History of Guide Dog Use by Veterans it states that the German army in particular “relied heavily on the use of German shepherds as ambulance and messenger dogs. The Germans reportedly used more than 25,000 dogs during World War I. ' these dogs were ideally suited for this type of work, with ell-known traits such as trainability, loyalty, intelligence, strength, and endurance” (Ostermeier 587). In today 's society, we have numerous people who are unaware of the services that animals can provide for humans. Specifically humans with mental or physical disabilities. In this paper I will present various types of service animals as well as the many services they provide.

Although medication and psychotherapy help PTSD patients reduce their symptoms, it remains a difficult disorder to treat. Many veterans suffering from PTSD see the disorder as a weakness and either fail to report their symptoms, go undiagnosed, or they drop out of their therapy (Glintborg). So, it remains necessary to find alternative therapies, and integrating support animals remains a viable option.

“There are currently over 400,000 Veterans in treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and it is estimated that with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars there is an additional 33% increase in our returning soldiers.” Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has become a severe issue for veterans returning from overseas. One of the most effective, yet unused resources given to veterans to help them cope with their disorder is specially trained dogs. These dogs help veterans with everyday life and keep them company, giving them a sense of tranquility and security. However, these dogs are extremely expensive, making it hard for veterans to obtain them. My research proposal will investigate several grey areas of these dogs. Are these dogs really the most effective way to treat PTSD? Why are these dogs not utilized as much as if they are proven to work the best? My project will also touch on if there is a less expensive way to train the dogs. This project will prove that dogs really are the best way to treat this disorder, find an answer as to why these dogs are not utilized more, and try to find a cheaper way to train these dogs.

Every year there are well over 7 million cases of PTSD that are announced (Kledzik). A small percentage of the people on Earth at some point in their life span will have some form of PTSD. A solution that will be able to help these people is commonly referred to as “man’s best friend.” For many years PTSD dogs have been useful to relieve the severe symptoms of this disorder. They have proven themselves to be more than just an animal. Post-traumatic stress disorder dogs are far beyond just man’s best friend; they protect the protectors far after the wars end.

“Approximately 650 military dogs deployed by the american combat forces are developing canine PTSD”(Doa). Canine PTSD is still very new, and could still be justified otherwise, but all the dogs that are put under this category all share similar symptoms any other victim that was diagnosed with PTSD would have received. The skills that service animals may have encountered while serving their time in the war, might just have been their biggest obstacle to face now. Like humans, the disorder differentiates, every dog faces canine PTSD in their own way but it’s all the same idea. After years of mastering what they do, all the wear and tear add up and it leads to about “5-10 of US military working dogs who were deployed in combat setting were reported to have signs of canine