Pet Therapy
What is a Pet Therapy Dog?
A Pet Therapy dog is trained to provide affection and comfort to people in retirement homes, hospitals, schools, and other places where people and dogs benefit from the indescribable dog to human connection. For years, Animal-assisted therapy has existed as a form of treatment to improve a patient’s social, emotional, or cognitive functioning.
Benefits of Pet Therapy
Not only do pets create a fun and relaxing environment but studies have shown that pet owners enjoy many therapeutic effects, including stress relief, and pet owners may even see improvements in their physical health. For elderly clients who can no longer care for a pet, pet therapy is a great alternative.
Pet therapy provides numerous benefits for the clients of Cypress HomeCare Solutions:
Emotional Benefits:
- Reduced loneliness, anxiety and depression
- Increased awareness and attention spans
- Provides social stimulation and encouragement to communicate
- Increased quantity and quality of interactions among dementia patients
- Enhanced social interactions with more smiles and laughter when the animal is present
Physical Benefits:
- Reduced blood pressure
- Motivation for physical therapy following a surgery or accident
- Mental stimulation for Alzheimer’s patients
- Diminished physical pain
- Patients undergoing pet therapy sessions show a lower incidence of heart attacks
- Nursing homes that incorporated pet therapy saw declines in prescription drug use and in the total cost of care
About Lacey the Dog
Lacey is a Yellow Labrador who was born on January 13, 2011 and was adopted by Bob Roth, Managing Partner of Cypress HomeCare Solutions, when she was ten weeks old. Lacey is incredibly loyal, affectionate and social – she loves meeting new people and has a special gift for making people feel better. After realizing Lacey’s gift for care giving, Bob decided to share Lacey with the world and enroll her in the Animal Actors of Arizona training program to become a certified Pet Therapy dog.
Lacey’s Credentials
Lacey is currently training with the Animal Actors of Arizona. The training for pet therapy differs from basic obedience training by exposing the dogs to different stimuli such as loud sounds and other factors they will encounter during their pet therapy services. The program evaluates comfort levels when being touched and each dog’s responsiveness and friendliness around people. Finally, the dogs are tested by a Therapy International dog tester to receive their pet therapy certification.
How to get a Visit from Lacey
Lacey’s visits are complimentary for Cypress HomeCare Solutions clients and can be arranged through any client caregiver.