Therapy Pets: The Human Healing Partnership Book Review

On September 21, 2001, Cindy Ehler of Portland Oregon arrived at La Guardia airport in New York City with her fluffy fox faced Keeshond dog named Tikva. They were headed to New York City and the site where terrorists had attacked America. It took two days of processing, but on the Sunday after they arrive at Ground Zero they begin their journey. Working with the Red Cross, Ehler takes Tikva around the perimeter of what was once the majestic Twin Towers building in Lower Manhattan.

Along the way they stopped and talked to firefighters, rescue workers and police officers. The presence of Tikva had a calming effect on the men who were working to find survivors. All had been traumatized by the events of September eleventh itself and with that trauma the workers also seemed dazed and distant by the work they were doing. They were surrounded by death and destruction.

One rescue worker in particular stopped to rub the soft coat of the Keeshond. The man strokes Tikva's fur. As he rubs the dog, he opens up to Ehler and her companion from the Red Cross, Disaster Mental Health volunteer, Karen Soyka. He shares the horror, the grief and the shock he has experienced in the last twelve days. After the visit with the worker, Soyka confides to Ehler that Tikva was able to do in a few minutes what she had been trying to do since September eleventh; get the workers to express their feelings and talk about their experience.

This is just one of the twenty-three stories in the book Therapy Pets, The Animal Human Healing Partnership, by Jacqueline J. Crawford and Karen A. Pomerinke.
Each and every tale, is informative and heartwarming. The stories cement the case for the use of animals and dogs in particular in treating people with a variety of disorders, illnesses and diseases. The grief, exhaustion and trauma 9-11 rescue workers experienced was only one way dogs have made a difference for people who are in need.

Many people confuse assistance dogs with therapy dogs. Although both work to better human existence, there is a big difference. Assistance dogs are for the most part, owned by the person afflicted with a disorder. Therapy dogs are usually owned and trained by a person who wants to be of service to people in need. These people go through a training and certification process with their dogs so that they are able to go into hospitals, schools, nursing homes and scenes of horrible disasters. Many times the dogs and their handlers form bonds with people they work with, which only adds to the positive effective the dogs have on people.

The book had a number of touching and amazing stories. Another fascinating story was of Loretta Brobst. Brobst was a morbidly obese woman with many of the medical complications that come with weighing over four hundred pounds. One of the worse problems Brobst faced was not physical, but psychological. She was suffering from debilitating depression. The hurtful comments and stares of other people went deep in hurting her gentle spirit. She didn't want to venture outside for fear of being harassed, so she became withdrawn and isolated, fearful of new people. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Scott Berman knew that medication alone would not help Brobst with her depression, and that she also needed psycho-therapy. The problem was Brobst's anxiety was preventing her from pursuing a good therapist. Fortunately Dr. Berman recommended Kathy Best, a certified nurse psychotherapist. Best used animals in her therapy as she had found her patients were able to relax and open up with her two enormous and furry Great Pryaneese dogs present. The two therapy dogs, Brutus and Kayla were Canine Good Citizens, an American Kennel Club designation and had earned certification from both Therapy Dogs International (TDI) and the Delta Society Inc.

Brobst connected wonderfully with the dogs as she felt they were not judging her size and accepted her for who she was. This unconditional acceptance was the beginning of her healing process. After many stops and starts Brobst was able to shed 250 pounds over five years. She attributes much of her success to the use of Brutus and Kayla.

When reading a story like the one above, one feels a strong understanding. Dog owners intuitively know the benefit of having pets. The book will make the reader even more appreciative of the gift to humans known as dogs. Dogs give unconditionally and are one of life's most profound pleasures. In the words of Roger Caras, 'dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole'.