Date of Defense

4-11-2024

Date of Graduation

4-2024

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Angie Moe

Second Advisor

Katy Cole

Abstract

This thesis explores the effects therapy dogs have on students. It begins with a literature review of 17 articles that involve animal-assisted interventions with students and children. The main topics covered include the definition of a therapy animal and how dogs can influence learning, socialization, emotional well-being, anxiety, and depression. It also discusses how dogs can be used in therapy and special education classrooms as well as the major concerns of dogs in schools. Drawing upon the previous research, a survey was sent to school staff in the Paw Paw Public School District. The participants of this study consisted of 54 staff members from early education up to high school who have worked with students. A total of 45 staff members had observed the therapy dogs in the schools and nine staff members had not observed the dogs. Each staff member was sent a voluntary online survey to give their opinions about how therapy dogs affected students’ learning, participation, social interactions, and emotional well-being as well as how to improve the therapy dog program. The survey consisted of both quantitative and qualitative questions. The quantitative questions were a mixture of both multiple-choice and Likert scale questions. All quantitative answers were graphed, and the Likert scale answers were averaged. For the qualitative answers, categories based on the main answers were created and given a total score from how many responses fit the category. The results show that therapy dogs had the most positive impact on emotional well-being for students followed by learning, social interactions, and participation. Many staff members did not answer the qualitative questions or did not observe the dogs long enough to form an opinion, but those who did respond mostly mentioned the positive impacts the dogs had on students. Finally, 68% of all staff members answered yes to wanting the therapy dogs to visit them and their students in the future, with those who had observed the dogs in the past having more positive answers than those who had not observed the dogs. The results of this study show the impact dogs have on students from the perspective of school staff members and how animal-assisted education programs can be improved upon.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Open Access

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