{"id":69857,"date":"2022-01-06T08:56:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T13:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=69857"},"modified":"2022-01-14T12:06:03","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T17:06:03","slug":"not-just-another-furry-face-the-scientific-benefits-of-therapy-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/not-just-another-furry-face-the-scientific-benefits-of-therapy-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Not just another furry face: The scientific benefits of therapy dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Six-year-old Copain wags his tail as he enters The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s front doors. The sights, sounds and smells of a hospital could easily distract an ordinary dog\u2014but not Copain. As one of several volunteer therapy dogs that visit The Ottawa Hospital, he and his K9 colleagues have an important job to do: help staff, patients and visitors manage the challenges of being in the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His handler, Michel, has been a volunteer with The Ottawa&nbsp; Hospital\u2019s Pet Therapy Program for ten years, four of them with Copain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Therapy_dog_Copain_volunteers_at_The_Ottawa_Hospital-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Copain\u2019s volunteer badge and vest\" class=\"wp-image-69888\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Therapy_dog_Copain_volunteers_at_The_Ottawa_Hospital-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Therapy_dog_Copain_volunteers_at_The_Ottawa_Hospital-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Therapy_dog_Copain_volunteers_at_The_Ottawa_Hospital-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Therapy_dog_Copain_volunteers_at_The_Ottawa_Hospital-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Therapy_dog_Copain_volunteers_at_The_Ottawa_Hospital.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>Copain has been a dedicated therapy dog volunteer at The Ottawa Hospital since 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCopain is very laid back,\u201d said Michel. \u201cHe waits for people to come up to him, but once he gets close to a person and establishes a connection, he\u2019ll lean into them. People say that\u2019s his way of hugging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That hug is more than just a hug. Research suggests that interacting with a specially trained therapy dog has many brain and body benefits for hospital patients and staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Joanne_and_Happy_therapy_dog_team-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Joanne Rodgers and her dog, Happy\" class=\"wp-image-69891\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Joanne_and_Happy_therapy_dog_team-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Joanne_and_Happy_therapy_dog_team-1-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Joanne_and_Happy_therapy_dog_team-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Joanne_and_Happy_therapy_dog_team-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Joanne_and_Happy_therapy_dog_team-1.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>Happy undergoes extensive training so that he can be part of the hospital team that provides compassionate care to patients.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As Dr. Christine Boisvert, a clinical and rehabilitation psychologist at The Ottawa Hospital explains, interacting with a therapy animal Like Copain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Calms the nervous system.<\/strong> Heart rate and breathing rate slows down. Patients and staff report feeling generally calmer and more relaxed.<\/li><li><strong>Promotes physical and emotional health.<\/strong> Petting an animal can help a person with an arm injury learn to use their arm again. Grooming an animal can help a person living with depression feel a sense of purpose.<\/li><li><strong>Releases feel-good hormones (in the animal and the human).<\/strong> Higher levels of dopamine and oxytocin increase feelings of safety and connection. These hormones are released within just ten to 15 minutes of the interaction<\/li><li><strong>Helps humanize the hospital environment.<\/strong> Hospitals can sometimes feel like big, impersonal spaces. Therapy dogs help patients see that, at its core, a hospital is a place where people help people.<\/li><li><strong>Improves the patient-provider relationship:<\/strong> Patients and staff who interact with therapy animals report feeling more comfortable sharing information.<\/li><li><strong>Decreases loneliness.<\/strong> Long hospital stays can cause loneliness in some patients.&nbsp; A visit from a therapy dog pair provides joyful anticipation, a change in routine, and genuine companionship between the therapy dog and the patient.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Sandy_and_Donna_therapy_dog_team-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Donna Bowers and her dog, Sandy\" class=\"wp-image-69893\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Sandy_and_Donna_therapy_dog_team-1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Sandy_and_Donna_therapy_dog_team-1-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Sandy_and_Donna_therapy_dog_team-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Sandy_and_Donna_therapy_dog_team-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Sandy_and_Donna_therapy_dog_team-1.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>Sandy is one of several volunteer therapy dogs that support patients, staff and visitors at The Ottawa Hospital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every dog is as highly trained as Copain, Happy and Sandy, but you can get some of the same benefits from interacting with a dog or other friendly animal in your life. So the next time you scratch an animal behind its ear and notice yourself smile and relax, it\u2019s not just because of their cute face\u2014it\u2019s science!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Pet Therapy Program at The Ottawa Hospital<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s Volunteer Resources have a long-standing partnership with St. John Ambulance, Ottawa Therapy Dogs and Ottawa Humane Society.&nbsp; Therapy animals receive training and certification through these organizations, but they and their handlers must also be hospital volunteers. All requests and inquiries about the Pet Therapy Program at the hospital should be made through the hospital\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/career-opportunities\/become-a-volunteer\/\">Volunteer Resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Copain, a six-year-old standard poodle therapy dog regularly leans lovingly into the lap of a patient.  Little does he know his \u201chug\u201d produces many scientifically-backed benefits for hospital patients and staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":69895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[381,184],"class_list":["post-69857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-patient-experience","tag-volunteers"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}