Most forms of therapy in which an animal is used are based on Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) or Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI). This is a targeted intervention in which an animal, in this case a dog, meets specific criteria and participates in a treatment process.
The dog as a therapy animal can:
- Aid the recovery process
- Provide insight into your own behaviour
- Increase of observation capacity
- Increase confidence
- Stimulate more social contact with other people
This results in an improvement in the psychological, social, emotional, behavioural, cognitive and / or physical functioning of the owner. Various animal species are used for this, with dogs and horses being topping the list.
Working together and / or living with dogs has, in addition to all other effects, a positive influence on social contacts. Dogs bring people into contact with other people, for example when walking a dog it is easier to strike up a conversation.