Emotional Support Dog
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office welcomed a new staff member in 2019: an emotional support dog named Barrett.
Barrett, a golden doodle, joined the attorney’s office in late December. He is still in training, but one year from now, he will start his full-time gig supporting the attorney’s office employees, witnesses and victims.
In a news release, the attorney’s office said the decision to get an emotional support dog was based on scientific research showing the benefits of having a dog working with individuals in a courthouse, courtroom or legal office.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman called Barrett a “welcome and necessary” edition to his office.
“Having an emotional support animal like Barrett in our office will provide much needed stress and anxiety-relief to our staff members, as well as the witnesses and victims we work with during cases,” Freeman said a statement. “Research suggests that having emotional support animals working in courthouses and other legal offices provides comfort and creates a less threatening environment for victims and witnesses.”
A dog trainer with Augusta Dog Training is training Barrett. Barrett currently lives with one the attorney’s office employees.
Elementary School Service Dog
William and Soya celebrated several milestones together this month as they graduated from fifth grade at Parkwood Elementary School.
The two have grown up together, gone through school together and have been pretty much inseparable for the past six years but will be taking somewhat different paths once the new school year begins.
William Dedmond will be attending New Bridge Middle School and Soya, his service dog, will be retiring from her school duties.
“It will be weird,” William, 11, said when asked how it is going to feel not having Soya with him at school.
He had to think a minute before answering; he’s never really known otherwise. Soya has always been close by, either at his desk or within close range in his classroom.
Classmates asked about Soya when she stayed home for a day and Soya got her own photo in the school yearbook. She was a part of the Parkwood School community.
“When Soya was there I didn’t really think of her as a dog, she was like a student,” William said of having a service dog with him at school.
William, the son of Jason and Melissa Dedmond of Jacksonville, was diagnosed with epilepsy at 9 months old and Soya has been at his side since he was 4 years old and still in preschool.
Soya, a Golden Retriever, is trained as a Seizure Assistance Dog, which alerts others through smell as to when a seizure occurs or is going to occur.
The good news is that William had his first normal electroencephalogram (EEG) a year and a half ago and has been able to come off the medications that have long been needed to manage the seizures.
With the latest test results, William is able to head to middle school without needing a service dog with him.
While Soya will still be around to watch over him, the Dedmonds hope William has outgrown the seizures. His last grand mal seizure was at age 5.
Jason Dedmond said that from 9 months old to age 5 William had many types of seizures, at times two or more a week.
“You name a seizure, he’s had it,” Dedmond said.
When the seizures were at their worst and most frequent, the Dedmonds were barely able to sleep as they kept watch.
Through a community fundraiser, Wags for William, they raised the $13,000 needed to get a service dog and an additional $7,000 that was contributed to help another family in line for a service dog.
The family traveled to Ohio for two weeks for their part in the training and brought Soya in Jan. 2014 when she was 13 months old. She was named Soyala, which means winter solstice in American Indian because that is when she was born.
Jason said that when William entered kindergarten at Parkwood Elementary, he joined his son at school for a week to help train the teachers and school staff.
The teachers knew what to do if there was a “Code Purple” and Soyala alerted them to a seizure.
It happened often while William was in preschool at First Baptist Church, now Catalyst Church. Fortunately, Dedmond said, there was not a Code Purple for William while he was a Parkwood.
“We were very blessed,” he said.
As William heads on to middle school, one thing won’t change: the bond he has with Soya.
William smiles as he remembers the Halloween costumes they’ve shared.
“She was a super hero for Halloween,” he said.
It seems fitting for a dog he says has super powers.
Soya plans to retire to normal dog duties and will be spending more time with the second K9 in the family. Alexa, a Golden retriever and Labrador retriever mix, joined the family two years ago for William’s older brother, Dylan.
Alexa is also trained but wasn’t quite suited for work as a service dog and was adopted from the same organization as one of their “fabulous flunkies.”
Therapy Dog Enjoys Sunset
Sunsets in the Lowcountry are a sight to behold, but adding in a pretty therapy dog really kicks it up a notch!
‘Lacie’ recently enjoyed an early evening on the beach at Seabrook Island.
Ruth Dalpee shared a picture taken right at sunset.
‘Lacie’ works as a therapy dog at MUSC, according to Dalpee.
Autistic Service Dog
There is a community effort to help a Fayetteville family with the mounting medical bills for their ailing service dog. Caspian is a six-year-old Goldendoodle trained to detect seizures for their 13-year-old autistic son.
Like the perfect storm, Brooke Wright says her son Gavin’s seizures have been increasing, while the health of Caspian has been failing.
Gavin has a form of non-verbal autism and for six years Caspian has alerted the family to oncoming seizures. The family says those seizures have been increasing at an alarming rate.
Then the Fayetteville family says it awoke one morning recently to blood coming from Caspian’s nose. The start of his own health crisis.
“Just this week they did a scope of his nasal passages and sent the specimens to pathology, so cancer is a concern,” said Wright.
There have been emergency vet visits and veterinary specialists. Caspian’s medical bills are mounting beyond the capabilities of this single mom.
“We are up to about $2,500 after seeing four vets just this week.” Caspian is not able to alert them to Gavin’s seizures currently but the family is hoping and praying for a favorable diagnosis.
Helping Heroes Campaign
With the support from the Petco Foundation’s Helping Heroes grant, Shelter to Soldier adopted a gorgeous (from the inside-out!) shepherd mix named “Scout” from Labs and More (Labradors, Retrievers and More) Rescue out of San Diego According to Shelter to Soldier President Graham Bloem, “So far, he’s an all-star in training and has thrived immensely in working with our team. It‘s obvious to our staff that he was destined for a great purpose as he has a special way about him. Our training regimen has refined wonderful traits of companionship and a renewed confidence in Scout. He’s put himself on the fast track in our program, excelling in his training every day. He’s on target to begin the process of meeting veterans to start handler training, most likely in the summer of 2020.”
From Oct. 5 to Oct. 27, 2019, the Petco Foundation raised funds to support thousands of therapy, service and working animals that have a significant impact on people across the nation. The Petco Foundation places a special emphasis on programs that obtain dogs from shelters to transform them into “Helping Heroes.” Donations throughout October of last year were collected at Petco stores and online. Shelter to Soldier was selected as a recipient of the campaign, with an added charitable component.
According to Kyrié Bloem, Shelter to Soldier co-founder and vice president, “To maximize their impact this year, the Petco Foundation generously pledged to match up to $20,000 in donations given to Shelter to Soldier through the month of October, 2019, to support our comprehensive work to facilitate dog rescues for our service dog program, and to support our veterans suffering from invisible wounds, such as Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and more. We’re tremendously grateful for their continued support that enables us to expand our services.”
It is estimated that 16 veterans lose their lives to suicide every day in the United States, and in 2018 alone, 6,317 veterans took their lives. Shelter to Soldier is committed to making an impact on these devastating statistics by providing hope through the companionship of a psychiatric service dog who provides non-judgmental, 24/7 support and motivation to veterans otherwise debilitated by mental illness.
Since 2012, the Petco Foundation has invested more than $14 million to support the life-changing work of all helping heroes. These Helping Heroes not only safeguard the military and support wounded U.S. veterans, but they also rescue people during disasters, help provide independence, comfort the sick and even benefit children learning to read.
Dogs Have A Teenage Phase
The first evidence of dogs going through emotional changes during puberty has been discovered. They are more likely to disobey orders from their dog-parents and be more difficult to train. Behavior does improve after puberty when dogs reach 12 months of age.
Dogs are man’s best friend; a loyal four-legged friend with a never-ending ability to fetch. For many reasons, many people decide to adopt a puppy to grow alongside their family. While puppies are adorable, sometimes they can be too much to handle. A continued lack of obedience may even frustrate dog-parents into returning the puppy. According to some English researchers, abandoning the dog may be a premature decision. New research shows that dogs have an adolescent phase where they temporarily act out like rebellious teens.
Puberty marks an important developmental stage where emotional and physical changes are occurring in the body. And inside the brain, teens are a ticking time bomb. The prefrontal cortex, a brain area important in decision-making and logical thinking, is still developing. To make matters worse, another brain area, the hypothalamus, acts as an instigator by releasing hormones to stimulate the production of estrogen and testosterone. Not only do these hormones develop our bodies, they also influence the emotional parts of the brain to focus on social rather than familial relationships.
The final product is a moody and impulsive teenager prone to making bad decisions. Because teenagers are more concerned about peer acceptance, romance, and sexual relationships, this can put a huge strain on the parent-child relationship. But parents know that teenage rebellion doesn’t last forever. After puberty, young adults are more mature and rational with fully developed brains. So, researchers wanted to see if parent-teen conflicts were similar to dog-owner conflicts. If so, can the dog problems resolve after puberty?
The researchers observed 70 female dogs, starting at 2 to 3 months until 12 to 14 months. During this time, dog owners filled out questionnaires on the dog’s behavior. The Attachment and Attention Seeking as well as the Separation-Related Behaviour scales were both used to measure attachment behavior. Higher ratings meant insecure attachment. To rule out anxiety as the driver for insecure attachment, they administered another questionnaire measuring general anxiety. Dogs that scored high on the attachment scales at 5 months of age entered puberty faster. There was no link to the timing of puberty and general anxiety. The researchers suggest a correlation between dogs who do not have strong attachments to their dog owners and early puberty.
The second part of the study focused on how well 41 male and 52 female dogs obeyed their caretaker’s orders. Dog obedience responses were observed at 5 months (before puberty) and 8 months (during puberty). At 8 months, dogs were less responsive when the caretaker yelled ‘sit’ compared to 5 months. But dogs did respond to the ‘sit’ command when it was performed by a stranger rather than the caretaker.
To support the evidence of rebellious teenage dogs, researchers surveyed 285 new dog owners and a professional dog trainer. The survey measured how “trainable” you think a dog is at 5 months (before puberty), 8 months (during puberty) and 12 months (after puberty). Dog owners reported their pets were difficult to train at 8 months. In turn, dog owners rated their dogs more trainable at 5 and 12 months. Meanwhile, the trainer rated dogs more trainable at 5 and 8 months.
Because of the different responses between dog owners and the trainer, the researchers wondered whether training difficulties during puberty was associated with dogs who did not have a strong attachment to their owners. The Separation-Related Behavior scale was given again to dog-owners to measure insecure attachment. Results showed a 36% increase in insecure attachment for dogs undergoing puberty compared to before and after puberty. In addition, 8-month old dogs with high insecure attachment correlated with difficulties training and lower obedience. This correlation was not seen when the owners rated the dog at 5- or 12-month-old.
The researchers suggest that the behavior seen in 8-month old dogs reflect the teenage-parent conflicts commonly seen in puberty. However, dog-owner disobedience was more noticeable when dogs didn’t have a strong relationship with their owner. As trainability improved when dogs grew to 12 months, the researchers believe this rebellious streak doesn’t last forever. So, if you feel like tearing your hair out when you see the dog tearing up the couch pillow, just remember this too shall pass.
Dolly Pawton
This service dog isn’t just working a “9 to 5!” Dolly Pawton helps her owner, Amy Sherwood, who has medical issues that include mobility, heart and blood pressure complications, as well as emotional complications brought on from years of domestic abuse.
Sherwood taught Dolly how to recognize when she needs assistance or care, and nominated Dolly for Hallmark’s prestigious Hero Dog Award.
Dolly, we’ll always love you!
Dog Rules For Military
Regional and service-specific policies banning aggressive dog breeds on military bases have been a source of consternation and controversy for years. But a new provision in the Senate version of the next defense policy bill aims to clear up the confusion.
An amendment in the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate would require the secretary of defense to establish a single standardized policy for the whole military governing dangerous dogs. The new policy, which would be presented within 90 days of the bill’s passage, would be breed-neutral. That’s in contrast with current policies, which tend to focus on certain “aggressive” breeds, such as pit bulls.
The new policy would also need to be “consistent with advice from professional veterinary and animal behavior experts in regard to effective regulation of dangerous dogs,” according to the language of the bill.
The current array of policies governing dogs on base highlights the confusion. According to the Air Force’s standardized pet policy, dogs of any breed deemed “aggressive or potentially aggressive” are off-limits on base unless the animal is certified as a military working dog or has special approval from the base commander.
“For purposes of this policy, aggressive or potentially aggressive breeds of dogs are defined as a Pit Bull (American Staffordshire Bull Terrier or English Staffordshire Bull Terrier), Rottweiler, Doberman Pinscher, Chow and wolf hybrids,” the policy reads. “Prohibition also extends to other breeds of dogs or individual dogs that demonstrate or are known to demonstrate a propensity for dominant or aggressive behavior.”
These behaviors include unprovoked barking and snarling, biting or scratching people, and escaping confinement to chase people.
The Army has base-by-base restrictions, many of which limit not only the kinds of dog breeds that can be kept but also the total number of pets. The policies typically name the same breeds cited in the Air Force policy as restricted from living on base.
In 2012, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, moved to end its grandfather policy governing pit bulls, rottweilers and wolf hybrids, requiring base residents to give up these dogs or move off base.
Owners of mixed-breed dogs and breeds banned in some places but not others, like Chows, are especially likely to take issue with current policies, and to face challenges during permanent change-of-station moves to locations with different rules. A 2013 Change.org petition from the organization Dogs on Deployment calling for a standardization of dog policies collected nearly 45,000 signatures but ultimately did not lead to a major policy change.
The initiative apparently got new legs, however, when the president of the American Bar Association, Bob Carlson, wrote to the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2019 about the matter.
“Enacting a consistent pet policy applicable to all installation housing, regardless of service or privatized provider, can balance diverse command interests in safety and security while also improving the morale and welfare of the service members and families affected by the policy,” he said at the time, calling for a breed-neutral, uniform policy for those in military housing.
According to the current legislation, the policy would have to be implemented within 180 days of the NDAA becoming law and would “include strategies for implementation within all military communities, [and] for the prevention of dog bites that are consistent with the following best practices: Enforcement of comprehensive, non breed-specific regulations relating to dangerous dogs, with emphasis on identification of dangerous dog behavior and chronically irresponsible owners.”
It would also provide for “investment in community education initiatives” that would support pet care best practices and owner responsibility.
The House must still pass its version of the defense policy bill and reconcile it with the Senate version before it continues to final passage and goes to the president to become law.
Pet Effect
The “Pet Effect” is the idea that getting a pet will make you healthier and happier. This idea is highly promoted by the marketing departments of industry giants like Zoetis, the world’s largest veterinary products corporation.
Psychotherapist Dana Dorfman is a believer. In a recent Psychology Today post, she extolled the benefits of pet ownership. She wrote, “A preponderance of evidence supports the contention that pets affect our overall health—mental and physical.”
Dr. Dorfman is not alone in her enthusiastic acceptance of the notion that pets are panaceas. A 2016 survey by the Humane Animal Bond Research Institute found that 71 percent of pet owners were aware of studies showing that pets improve human mental and physical health. Another survey reported that 97 percent of family doctors now believe there are health benefits from owning pets. Further, 69 percent of them said they had discussed the health benefits of pets with patients. As a prominent human-animal relationship researcher once said to me over drinks, “The surprising thing about the pet effect meme is how rapidly it has been accepted by the public.”
Clearly, pets can make our lives more enjoyable. But, as Psychology Today blogger Marc Bekoff pointed out his thoughtful response to Dr. Dorfman’s post, the preponderance of the evidence does not support the hype about the curative powers of companion animals.
Take pet industry claims that living with companion animals results in lower levels of loneliness, depression, and obesity. In a series of Psychology Today posts, I reviewed the results of 77 published research papers on these topics. Only 6 of 21 studies found pet owners were less lonely than non-owners, only 5 of 31 studies reported that pet owners were less depressed, and in only 5 of 25 papers were pet owners less likely to be obese. So, while some studies have found evidence linking pets and human health, most published research has not.
Why is there such a big mismatch between what the public believes about the healing powers of pets and the decidedly mixed results of published studies? I think this is due to a quirk in human thinking psychologists call the availability heuristic. This is the idea that we are biased by information that easily comes to mind, usually because we are frequently exposed to it.
An obvious source of information about pets and heath is the media. As far as I can tell, however, there have not been any systematic studies of media coverage research on the impact of pets on human health and happiness. So, I recently turned to Google to examine media stories related to the pet effect.
Using the Google News search engine I located 81 news items on the pet effect between 2010 and 2020. I searched using the phrase “the impact of pets on human health and happiness.” I did not include articles on the health of pets per se, or the debate over emotional support animals on planes, or articles by Psychology Today bloggers. The articles fell into three categories—the good news, the bad news, and the balanced news.
Activities For You And Your Pet
It’s no secret that pets provide love, loyalty and affection. This is even more apparent now that you’re spending more time at home with them. In fact, according to the 2020 Purina Pet Ownership Survey, 94% of pet owners rely on their pet for emotional support, which is particularly important during times of uncertainty.
You may be tempted to spend your time snuggling with your furry friend, but there are a lot of fun new things you can do to engage your pet mentally and physically while you are at home together. Now is a great time to integrate enrichment activities that will keep both of you healthy, happy and engaged.
“Setting and keeping a daily pet care routine to feed and walk your pet is important in alleviating stress for your pet. But scheduling play and incorporating enrichment activities into your pet’s day can also do wonders in keeping them happy and healthy,” says Alex Johnson, senior designer & pet enrichment specialist at Purina.
Johnson shares her favorite at-home pet enrichment tips and ideas:
Making it new: It is important to expand your pet’s world by providing opportunities for exploration. Try creating temporary indoor spaces to explore with boxes and paper bags or closing off a bedroom for a week to give your pet a space to rediscover. Hide some treats or favorite toys in the room before reopening it. Remember to keep toys in rotation to help create newness.
Treat time: While at home all day, it can become difficult to track when your pet gets a snack, so try adding a treat time to your schedule. Keep in mind, pets should get no more than 10% of their daily calories from treats. If you have kids, let them earn the reward of treating the pet that day by cleaning their room or finishing homework early.
One-on-one time: Having everyone constantly at home together can be stressful for pets. Provide opportunities for pets to have time on their own in addition to one-on-one time with family members. Spending 15 minutes together in a quiet space with no distractions can allow you to focus on engaging and bonding with your pet.
Exercise: When stuck inside, it’s important to find indoor activities to help pets burn energy. Try tug toys, laser pointer play, or playing tag or hide and seek. If you live in an apartment building, try throwing toys up or down steps in the stairwells or down hallways (if your landlord permits). If you’re spending more time watching TV, consider keeping a drawer or basket close by with some of your pet’s favorite toys, feather wands, tug-toys, balls, lasers, cat dancers, mechanical toys and stuffed animals. These toys allow you to interact with your pet from the comfort of the couch.
Box of invisibility: Providing pets with safe spaces is a great way to give them some downtime while still being close to everyone. For example, set out a box or sign in the family room, and when the cat is in the box or the dog is in the designated area, have the whole family pretend you can’t ‘see’ them, as if they were invisible. If the rule is followed, your pet will learn they can enjoy downtime in these spaces.
Sensory spot: If you have a cat, you know they love exploring textures and smells. Try getting a box or basket just as big as your cat loosely curled up, and place it in an out-of-the-way area, preferably near a safe heat source, vent or sunny window. Each week, try putting in a new material such as a worn T-shirt, packaging paper or bits of textured fabric for them to explore.
