🗣️ Should animals be involved in therapy?

As pet parents, we understand firsthand just how comforting our pet’s presence really can be.

Maybe it’s the way your dog greets you at the door with kisses after a day at work. Or the way your cat snuggles against your head as you fall asleep at night.

Even just having them in the same room is enough to feel a sense of ease come over us.

Sometimes, our pets can provide that same much-needed sense of ease to someone else too.

Sharlet Lee Jensen–Speech-Language Pathologist, Animal-Assisted Interventionist, and the passionate human behind all the resources found at Speech Dogs–stumbled upon this realization during one of her speech therapy sessions…

And it changed how she thought of her dogs forever.

The moment that changed everything

“That first session where I brought my dog Delta, we didn’t work directly on this child’s speech goals, but we had an amazing rapport-building session. Delta put her head on his lap and laid down next to him, and he was just petting her calmly and chattering nonstop. It's not always that dramatic of a shift, but for him, it was… And that just lit a fire under me that I needed to explore this more.”

With 23 years experience as a speech-language pathologist (and the last 6 of those involving therapy dogs), Sharlet has worked with a multitude of children with a huge range of needs.

Autism, severe speech delays, intellectual disabilities, reading disorders–every child comes with their own challenges, and she knows exactly how to connect with them.

But it wasn’t until a particularly challenging child came into her caseload that she knew she needed to figure out a way to get therapy dogs involved.

Before then, she had always had animals in her life. She felt the strong sense of connection one can have with a special pet firsthand.

In the early stages of her career, she would take her Brittany Spaniel into the preschool classroom she was working with and saw how he changed the kids’ demeanors.

“I knew the possibility was there but at that time, I was working for somebody else, and they just weren't interested in taking on the risk of having a dog there on a more regular basis.”

Fast forward a few years, and she was in a position where she could make her own decisions.

This child had been so challenging, other therapists wouldn’t work with him anymore. But Sharlet was determined.

Knowing he loved dogs, she got permission from his mother to bring her own dog, Delta, to a therapy session.

And the change was immediate.

“He came in excited. It was the first time I'd seen him smile. He came through the door smiling and chatting, instead of coming in unhappy to be there.”

From that point on, Sharlet was determined to incorporate therapy dogs into her practice.

All because a dog is present

“To come in and have a happy dog greeting them at the door… It just imparts a more friendly environment. I think of it almost as more of a home atmosphere, as opposed to coming to a therapy office.”

If we or someone we know has never gone to therapy, it can be hard to understand the resistance some might feel to it.

Many of Sharlet’s kiddos are coming in after a long day at school to work on one of their hardest challenges–their speech.

Some of these kids are already dealing with other struggles too. They might not be well-accepted by their peers. The traditional classroom setting may be difficult for them.

But now, their speech therapy session with Sharlet and her dogs becomes a place where they can feel a sense of calmness.

Whether they’re actively petting them or just feeling their presence in the room, the kids’ overall stress and anxiety lowers when a dog is present.

It goes for the caregivers too! These adults, sometimes beyond stressed from parenting a special needs child, benefit from a few minutes of gentle dog pets too.

Sharlet sees the way therapy dogs make a difference every time she steps into her office and recent research only backs what she’s known for years.

“We’re just now getting research specific to speech, but it shows improved attendance, improved caregiver satisfaction, the kids are talking more and are more willing to transition into their sessions more quickly… We're definitely starting to get some of that quantitative data.”

Beyond the therapy office setting however, the benefits dogs have on our lives has been known for years.

Their presence can lower our blood pressure, decrease cortisol (the stress hormone), increase oxytocin (a calming/connection hormone)...

They help take the kids out of fight-or-flight mode so they're in a better state of mind to learn and retain.

“I always think it's so funny when I have new kids on my caseload and within one session, they learn all my dogs' names. I only have one dog there at a time, but I have pictures of the other dogs… And they come back and about the dogs, and they don't know my name yet. They'll even ask me, they're like, what's your name again? But to me, it just proves that if you make it meaningful and joyful for them, it's going to stick in their memory better.”

If you tell a dog a story…

“If they can build a relationship with the dog–especially if it's a child that's having difficulty with that rapport-building piece–then that positive association kind of transfers over to me. Ultimately, we don't want them to be dependent on animal-assisted therapy. We want them to be able to go on and succeed independently. But sometimes it does take that extra effort.”

Beyond the calming effect the dogs have, there’s a handful of other benefits Sharlet sees, especially in the therapy setting.

Just by having a positive association to therapy, many of her kiddos throughout the years have been more excited to come and willing to put in the work while there.

They also offer what Sharlet calls the “neutral third-party effect” where, instead of asking the child to do something for her, they can do it with the dog.

“I can say something like, ‘Let's show Delta how we can do this,’ or ‘Can you ask Delta something?’ It takes that power struggle away to where I'm not telling them to do something or asking them to say something to me. The child and I might practice a few times together and then we turn and show Delta, and then maybe we'll go out to the waiting room at the end to show the parent.”

Instead of sitting and going over the same exercise over and over, this gives the child those extra repetitions and opportunities to retrieve the new information they’ve previously learned.

And for the older kids, or the more reserved kids, who don’t want to take a break even though they’re on the verge of being overwhelmed, Sharlet can suggest they go get the dog a treat from the other room.

Just 30 seconds away from the task can help them reset and calm back down.

Keeping the dogs happy and safe

“I already had Delta and Johnny Utah, who fortunately worked out. I didn't have any specific selection criteria when I adopted them, because I didn't know what I was getting into.”

As Sharlet got more serious about incorporating therapy dogs into her sessions, she began looking for certain traits and behaviors when deciding which dog to adopt next (yes, adopt!).

With the dog’s well-being in mind, she’s also been able to determine when a dog isn’t the right fit for therapy.

Bodie worked well for a while as a puppy but as he matured, he didn’t care for older kids. He retired early and lives a spoiled life at home now.

Johnny Utah retired from therapy when he was 12 and Delta, now 9, works reduced hours.

The others, Sky (who was Sharlet’s mother’s dog) and a new puppy, Zephyr, are currently coming with her to sessions.

Each dog has its own energy level, preferences, and reservations, and she’s careful to be mindful of that when bringing one in.

Children with lower energy may appreciate the way a higher-energy dog elevates the mood in the room.

Those with higher anxiety or stress appreciate the calming effect the more chill dogs have.

But regardless of who’s accompanying her that day, Sharlet always ensures they’re safe by using each moment as a teaching opportunity.

“The biggest thing is really setting those boundaries, so making sure the kids know in advance to the best of their ability, obviously–because I do work with kids that have developmental disabilities–how to interact with the dogs.”

She has kids practice gentle pets on stuffed animal dogs that look like each of the real ones and teaches them not to touch them in areas they don’t like, like their paws, unless it’s offered.

The dogs always have a place they can retreat to, and the kids know that if the dog is there, that means they want to be alone.

“For the most part, the dogs choose to be in the room with us. But if they’re on their bed, I don't let the kids approach them. They have that agency to do that, so if they're tired or just not feeling it that day, they can take that space.”

Seeking out animal-assisted therapy

“I think it's very holistic because we're doing a lot of things at one time. I have certain goals that, yes, I'm targeting and taking data on, but there's just so much going on beyond that.”

Therapy dogs can be an impactful part of any therapy setting–sometimes, it’s just getting curious about how to actually incorporate them.

Whether we as pet parents are in the therapist seat as a provider, or the one seeking out animal-assisted therapy, there’s so much benefit we can receive simply by having an animal there.

Sharlet simply breaks it down like this:

When we’re around animals, or more broadly, even being in nature, we feel more calm and mindful.

If more people had the opportunity to be in settings that encouraged this, imagine the kind of impact on society as a whole.

Because she’s seen this impact firsthand and believes whole-heartedly in what she does, she’s also been making it easier for other therapists in various settings to feel confident about bringing animals into their practice as well.

Through her book, Paws for Progress, and her online course, Talk to the Paw, Sharlet strives to give her peers the education and resources so not only they can thrive…

But the animals in their care can live happy, fulfilling lives as well.

Caring for all animals, no matter what

When your pet has a very specific job to do, the way you care for them might look a little different.

Maybe they have a more defined structure between work and home. Maybe they have training that needs consistent maintenance.

But if you had to step away for a couple days, who would care for them in the same way you do?

If something happened and you couldn’t care for them for an extended period of time, would someone know exactly what to do?

Putting a Cotl plan in place ensures your pet is taken care of, just the way they’re used to, no matter what.

Discover how the process works or book a call directly with Sean, our founder and CEO, to see what a plan could look like for you.

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