By SARAH GUDENAU, Solutions News Bureau
In the pediatric unit at Beaumont hospital, one high student eagerly awaits a visit from the Fur Angels.
“Where’s the little white one?” she says. “I want the little white one. That dog has saved me from hurting myself so many times.”
The Fur Angels is a pet therapy group founded in 1989. The team of dogs and their handlers visit hospitals, schools, residential communities and neighborhood events throughout Southeast Michigan to bring “personal serenity” to people.
“You don’t know the effect [therapy dogs have on people],” says Rose Dalton, northern manager of the Fur Angels. “I’m getting goosebumps telling the story [of the high school student at Beaumont]. I wasn’t even there. You don’t know the effect you have on people until you hear stories like that afterward.”
According to Mental Health America, “The Pet Effect” is the bond between humans and animals, and it positively impacts the health and well-being of both parties. The affection and companionship of an animal can increase levels of oxytocin in a person’s brain – the “love hormone” which fosters psychological stability, relaxation and trust.
Pets in general, and more specifically, therapy dogs like the Fur Angels — who are specially trained to be calm and composed when on the job — can help alleviate peoples’ feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness and social isolation.
They may also impact long-term mental health conditions. Studies show that animal-assisted therapy helps those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In one case, psychologists noted an 82% reduction in symptoms of PTSD patients with therapy dogs.
The National Center for PTSD estimates 28% of people who have witnessed a mass shooting develop PTSD, and around a third develop acute stress disorder. Because of the known positive influence of “The Pet Effect,” Oxford Community Schools is looking to start their own therapy dog program to help students who were affected by the tragic school shooting on Nov. 30.
The proposed pet therapy program would have dogs scheduled during the school day and stationed in different classrooms based on the teacher’s discretion. Additionally, if a student is in a crisis, they could be removed from the classroom to a safe space with the dog to connect and calm down.
One concern of the school district is the cost of starting their own program. It would cost $10,000 per dog for training, and the district needs multiple dogs to have one placed at each school in the district.
The Fur Angels are a volunteer non-profit — so clients do not have to pay for the service, but donations are helpful to the organization. Instead, they are supported by members (the dog owners who volunteer) who pay $20 a year.
In the Northern Chapter managed by Dalton, there are 69 members. There’s also a Down River Chapter, which has 87 members.
“These are not trainers with their dogs,” says Steve Calcagno, director of the Fur Angels. “These are individuals who live in their own house just like you, that you might have a dog. Through training, we’re able to get it to become a therapy dog, at which point then you could request to become a member of the Fur Angels.”
“These are our pets,” Dalton says.
Dalton and Calcagno train all the dogs for therapy dog certification. In addition to the dogs, the pair also trains handlers to know how to respond and interact with clients who may be emotional.
When the dogs visit a location, they generally work for an hour, but the time limit depends on the event. A team leader will check out the location and its requirements to see how many dogs and their handlers should attend, as well as how long they should attend.
“Each handler advocates for their dog — they know what their dog can handle,” Calcagno says. “But what we will generally do is schedule things for an hour. There will be times like [Oakland University] asked us to come for two hours. Depending on the event — like Oakland University there’s a lot of just sitting — we can do that. It’s not a big deal at all, but if we’re moving around to a healthcare facility or a hospital, where there’s a lot of movement, we usually try and hold it about an hour because there’s a lot of sensory overload, different rooms, different smells, different sounds.”
The Angels visit the Oakland Center (OC) at Oakland University (OU) three or four times a month. Student Alexander Gustanski saw the dogs during a recent visit in early February.
“I ended up spending about fifteen minutes hanging out and talking to the owners of the dogs,” Gustanski says. “There were lots of people crowded around the dogs, but it was not hard to approach the dogs and pet them. It did not really relieve any stress but it was a good experience — I personally don’t exercise any form of stress relief to my detriment so I don’t have a metric for comparison, but the dogs I interacted with were super sweet and the volunteers were all super friendly.”
Oxford schools are also taking time with the dogs into consideration. Experts from Michigan Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry recommend consistency, structure and routine to help students navigate the trauma they have experienced — something a volunteer organization such as the Fur Angels would not be able to deliver as frequently as the district’s own therapy dog program who would be on-site regularly.
Moreover, many of the Fur Angels members are employed and cannot attend events during the day. Rather, they volunteer around their work schedules, and evening events tend to work best for most.
Nonetheless, the Fur Angels make a considerable impact on the communities they visit. “Infinite and unconditional love” is their motto, and the Angels strive to share it with every group they visit.
“Those of us who have been doing this a while have stories upon stories of unbelievable things that have occurred with our dogs that we’ve witnessed a big part of,” Calcagno says. “We don’t mention names or anything like that, but this really does happen, and it’s just off the chart.”