What is a facility therapy dog?

The most popular employee, of course!

A facility therapy dog is a specially selected and trained canine owned by the facility and placed in the care of a staff member. These dogs work in the hospital 40 hours per week, alongside their handlers. They differ from volunteer therapy dogs, who are trained personal pets who visit the hospital with their volunteer handlers periodically for limited periods of time. Both facility and volunteer therapy dogs are trained to be friendly with everyone they meet and are great additions to the hospital!

How a facility therapy dog is selected and trained

All puppies are cute, but not all are cut out to be working dogs.

The first step of the selection process starts at birth. The breeder carefully watches each puppy to get to know their personalities. At seven to eight-weeks-old, the puppies go through temperament testing.

This ongoing assessment measures a dog’s reactions and behavior towards various elements presented to them. These include but are not limited to; exposure to people of all kinds, wearing all different clothing and with varying emotions (angry, loud, scared, friendly, excited, etc.) The pups are also observed while exposed to auditory stimuli they might experience in a facility, such as loud noises and fire alarms. Visual tests gauge how they react to unexpected movements, and flashing lights. Initial environmental tests see how they react to walking on different surfaces such as grass, concrete, and gravel. The puppies’ reactions are monitored for displays of unprovoked aggression, panic, or strong avoidance, all of which could be grounds for failure.

Once a puppy has passed the first round of temperament testing, they progress to basic command training. During this time, they learn basic commands, like “sit”, “down”, “stay”, “place”, and “leave it”. After mastering those new skills, they move on to the more complicated facility dog training.

Each facility dog has specific skills they learn, based on where they will be placed into service. A hospital-based dog must be exposed to all the sights, sounds, and smells that they will encounter at work. There is a lot going on in a hospital, so our dogs must remain calm in every situation. For his placement in Children’s Hospital, Atlas spent a lot of time in daycare centers getting used to kids of all ages. He also spent time out in public, being exposed to people, automatic doors, wheelchairs, and noisy environments. He receives ongoing training daily to learn skills such as getting up and down on beds gently, being mindful of IVs and wires, staying calm and out of the way during medical codes, and more.

What a facility therapy dog does.

Bringing a smile to everyone’s face is just one of the many important jobs these amazing dogs have.

Facility therapy dogs play an important part in bringing joy to our patients, families, and staff here in the hospital. Whether someone is scared, having a hard day, or is missing their pets at home, a facility dog can be a true comfort. It has been shown that spending time with a dog can significantly increase mood, lower blood pressure, and decrease stress.

Another job these canines have is to provide encouragement to our patients. This can come in the form of getting a patient out for a walk on the unit with our physical therapy team, playing ball alongside occupational therapists, participating in a mental health session, or making their way to the classroom to do schoolwork with our school interventionist. When kids are happy and participating in their care, the length of stay decreases, and, as happy as we are to be part of your child’s healthcare journey, we’re thrilled to see them head home and get back to their number one job…being a kid!

In addition to their work in the hospital, facility therapy dogs are often ambassadors representing their workplace by participating in community outreach and education. When attending events, the community gets to meet the facility dog and learn about various programs within Children’s Hospital. Sharing photos of the dog can be a great way to reach the public as well. Who doesn’t love to see our cute dog wearing a helmet to learn about bike safety, or laying on an exam table to show its not so scary to get a checkup?

There are just so many pawsitive things about having a canine companion to support WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital!