I’d like to thank Denise, of San Francisco, for drawing my attention to a clever program in Merced County, California. The program highlights my all-time favorite blogging theme: the benefits that humans derive from dogs and cats.

Last October this blog covered a program in which veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder trained service dogs. The veterans enjoyed demonstrable improvement and the dogs went on to help other disabled individuals.

Merced County’s program is similar. In the program, at-risk high school students train assistance dogs. According to the county’s website, the students have reaped numerous benefits.

While training service dogs for the disabled, at-risk youth learn about child abuse, animal abuse, and domestic violence, and also explore empathy, citizenship, responsibility, and good choices.

The dogs are accepting and non-judgmental while offering love and motivating the students.

Watching the dogs’ rapid, measurable progress teaches the teens that positive reinforcement, empathy, and an encouraging, upbeat attitude are effective methods of interacting with others.

The children that participated have improved self esteem, behavior at home, school performance, and many are no longer involved in the child welfare system.

Through pre-testing and midway-point testing, HSA is able to show the teens knowledge of dog behavior, domestic violence, and child / animal abuse.

Interviews with the teens reveal diminishing gang involvement, self-injury, and substance abuse.

Interviews with parents show support for the positive impact on the teens, including improved home relationships, grades, and a decrease in trouble at school and negative peer relationships.

The community receives an increase of well-trained dogs to provide assistance to those in need.

As for the program’s downsides . . . I can’t think of any.

According to the County Website, the program was the idea of a social worker who noticed the positive effects of an in-training service dog on children. My hat goes off to that individual, and to the County of Merced.

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Ingenious Program Uses Dogs to Help Veterans
• Is Mental Health Important for Healing? And why Don’t Vets Recommend Year-Round Heartworm Prevention?
• Pet Dog Saves Owner’s Life
• Canine Cancer Treatment Breakthrough Offers Hope for Humans as Well
• Dogs May Help to Cure Human Hereditary Disorders

I’d like to thank “d.d.”, of San Francisco, for sending in an excellent article from the SF Chronicle’s website.

The article touches on my all-time favorite subject: the physical and emotional health benefits that people derive from animals. Many of these benefits are well documented. People who have dogs benefit from increased exercise. Petting cats lowers blood pressure. Therapy dogs in children’s hospitals make patients want to get well. They also make the work environment more pleasant for nurses. Pets may be able to detect abnormal blood sugar levels in humans with diabetes. The list goes on and on.

Now we can add two new documented ways that animals help people. Dogs may help relieve the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans. They also serve as assistance animals for veterans who have gone through limb amputations.

Here is an excerpt from the article.

A couple of months ago, [Abelardo Rosas] barely spoke to anyone. He was sullen and surly and not responding to treatment at the PTSD clinic at the Veterans Affairs health center in Menlo Park.

Then he met Vegas, a sweet, good-natured golden retriever with a shiny coat and sad eyes.

Rosas had volunteered to participate in a pilot program – veterans at the clinic would train canines to become assistance dogs to aid disabled veterans, those who had lost limbs or are confined to wheelchairs.

The story proceeds to describe how the companionship of Vegas helped Rosas re-gain a sense of balance in life. He also helped the young veteran to feel relevant and helpful again.

[Rick Yount, director of the program] said handling and training dogs is valuable in the treatment of PTSD because the animals help the veterans connect with their emotions. The dogs counteract feelings of isolation. They have to take the dogs out into the community, he said, and other people inevitably want to pet the dogs and talk to the person handling them.

“The dog also reinforces the need to assist someone else,” he said. “This is important for a lot of veterans because most of them joined the military to help people.”

In my opinion it is an absolutely ingenious program. My hat goes off to everyone involved in it!

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Program Uses Assistance Dog Training to Help at-Risk Teens
• Is Mental Health Important for Healing? And why Don’t Vets Recommend Year-Round Heartworm Prevention?
• Pet Dog Saves Owner’s Life
• Canine Cancer Treatment Breakthrough Offers Hope for Humans as Well
• Dogs May Help to Cure Human Hereditary Disorders