More Dog Information

I am finding a ton about dogs as being one of the most common animals used for animal-assisted therapy :) Although, I did find an article about elephants being used as well (I will post this later!). Anyway, I found this website with a small article that went into more detail about what kinds of therapy techniques are used with children with special needs and dogs. I particularly liked this quote:

"Children are often extremely trusting and easily achieve a level of intimacy with animals. This special bond contributes to pets’ effectiveness as co-therapists."

I just really feel that this explains all too well why animals are such a fantastic benefit to those with disabilities. Children are very trusting and really seem to bond with animals quite well :)

Here is the article: http://www.kidneeds.com/diagnostic_categories/articles/animalassistedtherapy.htm

There was one therapy technique that was used with dogs by St. Mary's Hospital for Children that involved children recovering from traumatic brain injuries that had difficulties with dressing or grooming themselves. The children would be given a brush with a special handle and would be asked to brush or pet the dog. They may also place a wrist weight on the child to help strengthen their muscles. This makes achieving the therapy goals quicker and more exciting for the children...Read more of the article if you want more specific details :) I didn't want to write the entire article on here.

Also, I want to apologize about the last link in my previous post! I forgot that if you find articles on ERIC on our school website that you have to log-in to view the links-so just log in and you will be able to see it :) I tried it out. Sorry, again! Elephants are in my next post, so stay tuned!