The Best Therapy Animals
Some people require special kinds of assistance before they are able to complete daily tasks in life. Without the service of specially trained pets and people, some people may not be able to survive independently.
Most simple benefit from a visit with a pet that helps them survive by providing a sense of relaxation and calm. This exceptional service provided to people comes from therapy animals. Here is a list of the best therapy animals.
It is essential that you don’t confuse therapy animals with an emotional support pet or a service dog. Therapy pets, as they are also referred, are trained to socialize and give comfort to people in stressful situations or environments.
Therapy animals are mostly seen in schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and disaster areas, and can be grouped as one of the following three;
- Animal-assisted therapy animals
- Therapeutic visitation animals
- Facility therapy animals.
The therapeutic visitation animal is the most common type of therapy animal. Typically, these are pets that visit various places like detention facilities. They often meet with people who are missing their pets, but at the end of the day, they will return home with their owner.
Several kinds of animals are being used as therapy animals, and regardless of the animal utilized, they would have to receive some basic training, go through a veterinarian’s assessment, and screened to make sure they do well with humans.
There is no protection by any federal laws for therapy animals, but some states have laws that grant rights to pets and their owners. Collars, vests, registration, and more services are made available via the NSARCO (National Service Animal Registry).
What are the best therapy animals? You can read on to find out;
Therapy Dogs
This is typically the most commonly utilized kind of therapy animal. Dogs make ideal therapy animals, and they come in all shapes, unique personalities, and sizes. At one point or another in their life, many people may have required the service of a therapy dog.
Therapy dogs can be often found in nursing homes, hospitals, detention centers, special schools, and most public places.
Naturally, humans enjoy the company of dogs. Studies have proven that dogs help humans to stay calm and maintain a sense of peace, and this is what therapy dogs are trained to do.
Larger breeds of dogs, such as Golden Retrievers and Labradors, are most often referred to as therapy dogs, but this isn’t restricted to other breeds as well. A dog can make a great therapy animal if it relates well to basic human commands and is friendly towards people.
Therapy Cats
Cats are equally great therapy animals, even though they are the least likely choice than horses or dogs.
Like dogs, it’s easy to bring therapy cats into indoor facilities like nursing homes, detention centers, and hospitals to help in bringing comfort to anyone who is missing their pets.
Some therapy cats have been trained to walk on a leash. They’ve also been trained to help calm kids in schools, seniors in assisted living homes, and other conditions. For people with the fear of dogs, therapy cats are also the best option for indoor animals.
Therapy Horses
While significantly larger than dogs, horses make for great therapy animals. Unless it’s a miniature horse, it’s highly unlikely that you would find one walking through schools, but you might have come across equine-assisted therapy techniques making use of therapy horses.
Therapy horses are amazing animals if their size doesn’t bother you much, and they can do a great job in helping with mental health complications. Therapy horses are also used in equine-facilitated psychotherapy by veteran groups, addiction treatment centers, and other mental wellness facilities that are managed by medical professionals.
Horse grooming is often described as being therapeutic, and the ability for a horse to mimic human emotions has been shown to be very helpful for people dealing with several types of psychological issues.
Asides being able to help humans deal with emotional issues, therapy horses also help to teach people how to build and strengthen trust. It all depends on how you want to relate with them as they may or may not be ridden.
Therapy Rabbits
Sometimes a small, calm therapy animal may be needed, and if this is the case, one can find solace in a rabbit because they make for incredible therapy animals.
Rabbits are quiet as they do not make loud noises like dogs and cats do (barking and meowing), easy to transport, and are the perfect option for people who aren’t comfortable shaving dogs or cats around them. Besides, the fear of rabbits isn’t really common.
A therapy rabbit needs to be well-socialized, calm, and enjoy being petted and handled by people. It’s also best that a therapy rabbit is litter box trained.
Although not all rabbits fall into this circle; if a rabbit is friendly and doesn’t mind a harness and a leash, then they might as well play the role of a therapy animal.
What do you think? Do you mind having a therapy animal? Perhaps a cat or a rabbit? Tell us what you think in the comments.