Therapeutic for all? Observational assessments of therapy canine stress in an on-campus stress-reduction program.

Therapy animals are an important and growing support for students on university campuses; however, the stress experienced by dogs working in such programs has rarely been assessed. We assessed stress for 754 students, 40 handlers, and 40 dog participants in a canine therapy stress-reduction program hosted on a university campus. There was an overall significant decrease in handler and student stress and an increase in canine stress when observations of stress measured at home were compared to end-of-session stress. No change in canine stress was found when start-of-session stress was compared with end-of-session stress. For handlers whose initial self-reported stress was elevated, a correspondingly higher level of canine stress was identified at the end of the session. This finding suggests an emotional contagion or spillover model of stress whereby handlers—not student clients—negatively contribute to the affective experience of working therapy dogs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]