Physiological State of Therapy Dogs during Animal-Assisted Activities in an Outpatient Setting

Abstract

Therapy dogs are increasingly being incorporated into numerous clinical settings. However, there are only a handful of studies that have focused on the impact of animal-assisted activity or therapy sessions on the wellbeing of the therapy dogs. Furthermore, these studies show mixed results. The goal of this study was to provide an in-depth picture of the effects of these interactions on the dogs involved by considering multiple physiological measures known to be associated with emotional state (continuous heart rate, heart rate variability, pre- and post-session tympanic membrane temperatures, and salivary cortisol and oxytocin concentrations). Nineteen Mayo Clinic Caring Canine therapy dogs completed five 20-minute animal-assisted activity (AAA) visits each in an outpatient clinical setting (Mayo Clinic Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Clinic). From a physiological perspective, the dogs showed a neutral to positive response to the AAA sessions. Heart rate (HR) was significantly lower at the end of the session compared with the beginning of the session (F = 17.26, df1 = 1, df2 = 29.7, p = 0.0003). The right tympanic membrane temperature was lower post-session (F = 8.87, df1 = 1, df2 = 107, p = 0.003). All other emotional indicators remained stable between pre- and post-session. These results suggest that the dogs involved were not negatively affected by their participation in the AAA. Moreover, there was some evidence suggesting the dogs may have been in a more relaxed state at the end of the session (lower HR and lower right tympanic membrane temperature) compared to the beginning of the session.

Therapy Dogs' and Handlers' Behavior and Salivary Cortisol During Initial Visits in a Complex Medical Institution: A Pilot Study

“…Past literature has demonstrated that cortisol can increase due to exercise and general arousal (positive or negative) (13,15,23). It is recommended that future studies use cortisol and additional biomarkers, such as tympanic membrane temperature (36), heart rate variability (37), and salivary oxytocin (27,38). Furthermore, future studies would be beneficial in observing different therapy dog programs and their therapy teams' perceived stress along with the addition of objective physiological parameters.…”

Do Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD Mount a Cortisol Response in Response to Training?

“…Since the goal of AAI is aiding humans, studies on the topic have mainly focused on the effects that the animals have on the humans they are aiding. Only a few studies and publications have discussed the effect of AAI on animal welfare [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ] and even fewer have studied animal welfare in AAI via experimental design.…”

“…They did so primarily through a combination of behavioral assessment through structured observation and the analysis of cortisol samples. The use of heart rate and body temperature is, however, also seen [ 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Although it is disputed whether there is a relation between behavioral observations and cortisol measurements in dogs [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ], both measures have individually been found to be indicative of animal welfare status.…”

“…In theory, therefore, only animals that are both mentally and physically capable of assistance work are employed. To test if this assumption is true, studies such as those by Glenk et al [ 14 , 18 ] and Clark et al [ 16 ] have evaluated the effect of assistance work on dog welfare in AAI. This was mostly done during therapeutic sessions in which dogs performed assistance work for several individuals one, two, or three times a week.…”

“…This was mostly done during therapeutic sessions in which dogs performed assistance work for several individuals one, two, or three times a week. In their studies, Glenk et al [ 14 , 18 ] and Clark et al [ 16 ] reported no indications of (severe) stress in the dogs after they had assisted in a therapy session, which can be interpreted as meaning that selected and trained dogs are capable of coping with the stressors of assistance work. That is not to say that this conclusion holds true for all dogs in AAI though, as settings and workloads tend to differ between subtypes of AAI.…”