Written by: Marina Matveyeva
Edited by: Jayden Wang
Have you ever encountered a service dog while out in a public space? Some handlers have their dogs wear a vest that outright says “SERVICE DOG”, but according to the Americans Disabilities Act, what differentiates a service dog from a typical pet dog is its training (“How Can”). In particular, service dogs whose handlers have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, may put themselves between their handler and others to allow them to have more personal space (Scotland-Coogan et al., 2022). For handlers who are blind, a service dog could be tasked with assisting them in traversing busy streets. Furthermore, handlers that have a seizure disorder may have the service dog who would warn them if they were going to have a seizure (Scotland-Coogan et al., 2022).
Canine Assisted Intervention, or CAI, is a type of therapy that service dogs provide to patients with emotional or physical stress. While originally service dogs were only utilized to perform the task of a guide dog, nowadays, they are trained to help people who have a variety of disabilities such as diabetes, hearing impairments, and psychological disorders (Howell & Bennett, 2022). Not only that, but service dogs can even aid people who are stressed and have a heavy workload, such as students during finals week in a study done at Dublin City University (O’Hagan et al., 2024). Results showed that even brief periods of time spent with such service dogs had a positive effect on the students’ negative moods, anxiety, and stress-related symptoms (O’Hagan et al., 2024).
Some researchers believe that canine-assisted intervention therapy may be more viable than other forms of therapy as having a service dog gives individuals with PTSD unwavering emotional support, which can be beneficial as many of these individuals may struggle not just with PTSD but other familial, economic, and social problems (Scotland-Coogan et al., 2022). Some of the main reasoning for this hypothesis is that veterans are more likely to accept CAI as treatment compared to other forms of therapy and have higher completion rates for CAI therapy programs than other treatments (Scotland-Coogan et al., 2022). One study in particular on individuals with PTSD focused on the cortisol awakening response–a process associated with stress-regulation that usually functions abnormally in people with PTSD–and found that people who had service dogs had slightly higher cortisol awakening responses, leading to more regulated stress levels (Nieforth et al., 2024). But since the results were not statistically significant, more research is necessary to study the effects of having a service dog and cortisol levels.
Unfortunately, while service dogs have proven to be effective in assisting people and helping with symptoms of certain disorders, the public is not as well-educated– according to surveys done in Australia and Canada (Howell & Bennett, 2022; (Gibson et al., 2023). For example, crucial rights protected under the Australian Disability Discrimination Act–such as being able to take a service dog with you to public spaces that typically do not allow service dogs– exist, –yet many service dog handlers have had trouble bringing their dogs with them, especially when it came to taxis and restaurants (Howell & Bennett, 2022).
Service dogs have a variety of tasks that they can be assigned to help their owners, and some, in particular, have emotional bonds with their guardians. Most of the research done on service dogs and individuals with PTSD so far is usually psychological and social and there is a lack of research done in the biological aspect of this area of research (Nieforth et al., 2024). While some individuals may think that CAI is not the most effective treatment, studies have shown that the use of service dogs to help people in need are at least moderately effective and to make the experience of handling one easier, it is best to learn more about the functions of a service dog and the rights that handlers have in owning one.
References:
Gibson, M., Williamson, L., & Dell, C. A. (2023). Insights into Canadians’ Perceptions of Service Dogs in Public Spaces. Animals (2076-2615), 13(19), 3091. https://doi-org.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/10.3390/ani13193091
“How Can I Tell If an Animal Is Really a Service Animal and Not Just a.” ADA National Network, 15 Oct. 2024, adata.org/faq/how-can-i-tell-if-animal-really-service-animal-and-not-just-pet.
Howell, T. J., & Bennett, P. C. (2022). Community awareness of Assistance Dog Public Access Rights among Australian adults. Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2022.0014
Nieforth, Leanne O., et al. “Benefits and challenges of mobility and medical alert service dogs for caregivers of service dog recipients.” Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, vol. 18, no. 6, 2 June 2021, pp. 743–751, https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2021.1916630.
Nieforth, L. O., Rodriguez, K. E., Zhuang, R., Miller, E. A., Sabbaghi, A., Schwichtenberg, A. J., Granger, D. A., & O’Haire, M. E. (2024). The cortisol awakening response in a 3 month clinical trial of service dogs for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50626-y
O’Hagan, A. D., Gavigan, N., & Goss, H. (2024). The PAWS project – Promoting and supporting the wellbeing of undergraduate students with Service Dogs. Human-Animal Interactions. https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2024.0028
Scotland-Coogan, D., Whitworth, J. D., & Wharton, T. (2022). Outcomes of Participation in a Service Dog Training Program for Veterans with PTSD. Society & Animals, 30(5), 547–568. https://doi-org.proxy.library.stonybrook.edu/10.1163/15685306-00001682
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd
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