By Lisa Cohn
Dogs calm kids who suffer from anxiety in the dentist office–and in so many other ways.
I recently mentioned to a friend that her 10-year-old son seemed really connected to the family’s goldendoodle.
“Yes,” she responded. “He used to have problems with anxiety, but now that we have a dog, he’s so much calmer.”
And I wasn’t surprised to hear that a friend with an autistic son takes her son’s service dog, Major, on dental visits. The dog sits on the boy’s stomach while he’s having work done on his teeth.
In fact, one dental office, Applewood Family Dentistry, has a dental therapy dog to help children and adults who are jittery while visiting the dentist.
New research confirms what many families already knew about the benefits of having a dog. A canine in the home can quell anxiety in children and reduce the risk that they’ll suffer from anxiety when they’re adults.
Growing up, I was a huge dog lover, and was the child in our family of seven who slept with our dogs, took them sledding, and went cross-country skiing with them. As a child, I also suffered from anxiety–like many members of my family. Anxiety is a popular topic when I get together with my cousins. We relate stories about who’s afraid of elevators, heights, bridges, tall buildings and dentist visits. I’m particularly anxious in elevators and traffic jams; I’m sure I’ll get trapped. While my dogs were never official therapy or service dogs, I knew that a big snuggle with my furry friend would quell my racing heart after a particularly scary elevator ride (up Seattle’s Space Needle, for example) or getting caught in a traffic jam.
As I write this, my favorite tail wagger, Hudson, a golden retriever sits at my feet. These days, one of my biggest sources of anxiety is worrying that Hudson will get hurt–an interesting twist on the dogs-and-anxiety story.
Our appreciation for the many ways dogs help humans launched our “Bash and Lucy” book series. We hope that with our books, blogs, dog book reviews and dog heroism stories (see below), we teach kids and families about the many ways dogs help kids–and adults.