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Therapy Dogs: Welcome

This guide provides information and research materials related to the use of therapy dogs.

Student seated on couch in school setting; legs up on table and holding cellphone. Small cream-colored dog in a therapy dog harness is seated on student’s lap. Therapy dog has an ID tag that says “Tara” and “Butler Tech.”)

Photo courtesy of Becky Hickey, Butler Tech Bioscience Center. Used with permission.

Welcome

This guide provides information and research materials related to the use of therapy dogs.

Purpose of This Guide

This guide collects resources related to animal-assisted activities, education, and therapy.

These resources are available for students, faculty, staff, and administrators who wish to know more about how animals can help us enhance our life experiences, especially our experiences at Tri-C.

DEFINITIONS:

HAI – Human-Animal Interaction

AVP – Animal Visitation Program

AAA – Animal-Assisted Activity (informal visits between humans and dog/handler teams, offering “informal social interactions that can provide motivation, education, or recreation for clients” (Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction)

AAE – Animal-Assisted Education (animals that provide support for academic goals and learning objectives) (Jalongo 12)

AAT – Animal-Assisted Therapy (visits arranged by health care and other professionals, targeting particular goals)

 

(Many of the materials housed herein are those referenced in Kirsten Yates-Konzen’s Professional Improvement Leave Report, dated July 2021, which focused on therapy dogs in an academic setting.)

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