Happy tails, cure for the blues

Kathleen Hipwell demonstrates why her furry pal Phi makes such a good therapy dog. (Photo by Monika Warzecha)

By Monika Warzecha

monika.warzecha@dal.ca

St. Bernards may be known for saving struggling travelers in the Alps, but they can also help people here in Halifax.

Roc, a 17-month-old St. Bernard, works as a therapy dog for Therapeutic Paws of Canada.

Mark Grant, the publicity director for the Halifax Kennel Club, and his dog Roc alternate between visiting seniors’ residences Northwood Manor and The Berkeley in Bedford on Monday evenings.

“A lot of these people put into these long-term nursing homes and facilities – they don’t see anybody. We’re their lifeline with the outside world, if you will,” Grant says.

The health and social benefits associated with being around pooches have moved organizations to help bring dogs to those that could benefit from their contact.

Grant was first asked to volunteer by Therapeutic Paws of roughly five years ago because of the sweet nature of his former St. Bernard, Hercules.

Grant also helps evaluate volunteer teams for Therapeutic Paws, a volunteer-based program where therapy dog and cats and their handlers visit retirement homes, nursing homes and hospitals.

The organization conducts background checks on the human-half of the team and makes sure the dogs are healthy, easy-going and obedient.

Grant says they also put the dog and volunteer through a number of tests to simulate the environment of the seniors’ home.

“Someone drops a bedpan – how would your dog react? If he started barking, could you quickly get your dog back under control? How would your dog react to someone on crutches or in a wheelchair?”

One of the facilities Grant and Roc visit, Northwood, began bringing in dogs for visits six years ago under the guidance of veterinarian Dr. Ross Ainslie.

The benefits of coming into contact with animals have become the grounds for research by a number of doctors and scientists.

Researchers at the Department of Medicine at the University of New York at Buffalo published a study in the 2001 Journal of the American Heart Association. The study says the social support associated with pet ownership lowers a person’s blood pressure response to mental stress.

But the benefits of animal contact also have a social dimension.

Darlene Rogers, the director of resident programs and services at Northwood, says the visits are “thoroughly enjoyed” by the residents. The dogs brighten their days and give them something to talk about.

“It’s also a nice conversation starter – often the dog will become secondary to the conversation happening between the dog-handler and the resident.”

Jaime Wolfe, the program coordinator for St. John’s Ambulance therapy dog program in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, agrees.

“When you walk in, the instant smile on the resident’s face is absolutely amazing,” she says. “They immediately start talking about the dogs that they used to own or dogs that they used to see all the time.”

Volunteers visit hospitals and group homes, though the majority of the facilities they visit are seniors’ residences.

St. John Ambulance’s therapy dog program has been running for about ten years and Wolfe says the volunteer teams visit roughly 120 different facilities across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, with about 30 in the Halifax area.

Much like the Therapeutic Paws screening process, the St. John’s

Ambulance program does a record check on volunteers and requires the dogs to be friendly, easy-going and up to date on their shots.

Therapy dogs come in different shapes and sizes, ranging from hulking St. Bernards like Roc, to the diminutive Phi, a dachshund that started out as a therapy dog for St. John’s Ambulance program.

“He likes attention,” says Phi’s owner Kathleen Hipwell. “He makes everybody happy.”

And there could be scientific basis for the positive social effects dogs can have on people.

In a 2002 study in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, researchers from the Veterans Administration Medical Centre in St. Louis and the St. Louis University School of Medicine used the UCLA Loneliness Scale to study patients before and after visits from therapy dogs.

Using that scientific scale, they found that patients who spent as little as half an hour a week with therapy dogs were significantly less lonely after only six weeks, compared to a control group.

To Grant, the enjoyment people get out of programs such as Therapeutic Paws is evident by how much the residents look forward to visits from him and his dog.

“If we’re not on time, they’re calling my cellphone,” he says with a laugh.