Therapy animals

Susan Bulanda’s books

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With the holidays approaching I thought I would post about the books that I have written. They make wonderful gifts to friends and family as well as yourself. If you order from my website you will get an autographed copy. PLEASE NOTE that if you live outside the United States you need to contact me for the cost of postage, the postage on my website is only for the US. The cost of mailing the books outside of the US often costs more than the book so if you can get it through Amazon or a local book store you will save a substantial amount of money. Also note that all of my books are traditionally published by established publishers.

The Business of Dog Training: How to Succeed as a Successful Dog Trainer – will guide you through every aspect of running dog training business from what kind of trainer you want to be to how to deal with clients. This is a must have book for those people who want to become dog trainers as well as those who already have a business.     2024 First Place Dog Writers Association of America – Maxwell Award

Miitary Dogs of WWII – covers all the countries involved in WWII. It names famous dogs as well as mascots. It covers the dogs that served as SAR dogs in England, helping to find buried people in bombed buildings. It explains training methods as well as the missions that the dogs went on and how they saved lives. There are about 100 photos included in the book.      2023 First Place Dog Writers Association of America- Maxwell Award

K9 Obedience Training: Teaching Pets and Working Dogs to be Reliable and Free-Thinking.  This explains how to teach a dog the basic obedience that is the foundation for all other training. The methods used in this book allow the dog the freedom to think for themselves rather than perform robotically where creativity is discouraged. Free-Thinking is necessary for all working dogs. Obedient disobedience is also covered. The book explains what not to do and why. Some fun tricks are included.

K9 Search and Rescue Troubleshooting: Practical Solutions to Common Search-Dog Training Problems – explains the typical SAR dog training problems and offers solutions for the SAR dog handler. The solutions apply to all disciplines in canine search and rescue. It explains how the puppy stages of development can have lasting effects on the behavior and training of a dog. Often people adopt an older dog to train and do not understand why the dog behaves the way it does, this book gives insight to those issues. Although K9 Search and Rescue Troubleshooting: Practical Solutions to Common Search-Dog Training Problems is written for the SAR dog handler, the information contained in it applies to many training issues that are not related to SAR.      2020, Certificate of Excellence, Dog Writers Association of America.      2018, First Place, National League of American Pen Woman.

Soldiers in Fur and Feathers: The Animals That Served in WWI – Allied Forces: A unique, collection of accounts about many different animals that served in WWI. There are many rare photos. What is especially interesting about this book is that it includes many of the mascots that the soldiers kept. Some went into the trenches with the men. For example, there is an account about how a cat saved the life of a soldier, how a pair of geese slated to be Christmas dinner wound up being kept as mascots, and one soldier had a huge Golden Eagle as a pet. WWI was a transitional war from animal power to mechanization, therefore many species of animals served, such as oxen, horses, mules, camels, pigeons, and dogs in many capacities. 2012: Second Place Winner, National League of American Pen Women, Finalist for the Alliance of Purebred Dog Writers Arthur Award,      Certificate of Excellence for the Cat Writers Association of America.

Faithful Friends: Holocaust Survivors Stories of the Pets Who Gave Them Comfort, Suffered Alongside Them and Waited for Their Return: The only book written about the animals of the Holocaust victims, recording a part of history that has been overlooked. Some of the stories are sad and some joyous, but all are a part of history. Learn about Nicholas the French Bulldog owned by a woman who was part of the French resistance, and how he came to tour with the German army. Also, the dogs who somehow survived the war and were reunited with their owners and many other stories about dogs and cats.      2012: Dog Writers Association of America, Maxwell Award,     Certificate of Excellence Cat Writers Association, 2012; National League of American Pen Woman 2nd place  

God’s Creatures: A Biblical View of Animals explains the role that animals play in the Bible and how God uses them. It explores the nature of animals and miracles that involve them. It answers questions such as, do animals go to heaven, do they know and obey God, can they be evil?

Boston Terriers, a book all about this wonderful breed of dog. Learn about their care, training and personality. The book has fun sidebars that give personal accounts of Boston terriers.        2002 – First Place Maxwell Award for the Dog Writers Association of America (only available on Amazon)

Ready: The Training of the Search and Rescue Dog: Adopted worldwide as the training book for SAR dogs. This book has been in print since 1994 and is in its second edition. It gives the SAR dog handler a training plan for all disciplines of canine search and rescue.       First place for the National League of American Pen Woman, 1996. Also nominated best book of the year, 1994 Dog Writers Association.

Scenting on the Wind: Scent Work for Hunting Dogs: helps the hunting enthusiast understand how weather, wind and terrain features affect scent. It is a great aid for people who compete in field trials or who do any kind of scent work with dogs. Only available from the author’s website http://www.sbulanda.com

Real Estate Today, Seller Beware! – explains how to save thousands of dollars when selling your house. Available on Amazon

Therapy dogs, robots or real dogs

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Dr. Leanne Proops from the Department of Psychology of Portsmouth University conducted a study to see if children would respond positively to a robotic therapy dog vs a real dog. The researchers used a biomimetic robot at a West Sussex school with 34 children who ranged in age from 11 – 12. The robotic dog was a MiRo-E biomimetic robot developed by Consequential Robotics.

They also used two real therapy dogs, a Jack Russel mix and a Labrador who were from the Pets as Therapy group.

Before the therapy session the children were asked to fill out a questionnaire about how they felt about the real dogs and the robot. The researchers found that the children spent the same amount of time petting the real dogs and the robot, but they spent more time interacting with the robot.

The children did report that they preferred the session with the real dog. However, they did express more positive emotions after interacting with the robot.

Even though this was a small study, the researchers are hopeful that in cases where children are afraid of dogs or are allergic to them that robots could be a substitute for real therapy dogs. The robots could also become more available with little or no upkeep and training requirements.

My comment: However, there was no way based on this report to judge if the children interacted with the robot more because it was unique and different. Dogs are not uncommon for most children, robots are.  

Pets and autism

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It has been fully documented that children who suffer from autism can benefit from living with a pet. However, a new study by Gretchen Carlisle, a research scientist with the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine has found that the parents of autistic children also benefit from having a pet in the family. Having a pet reduces the stress in parents despite the extra responsibility of owning and caring for a pet.

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The study goes on to stress that the right type of pet should be selected that will help the autistic child. They suggest that in some cases a quieter cat may be better than an active dog. Certain types of birds or small animals might also qualify as a pet. They also suggest that the child be included in the selection of the type of pet.

As a certified animal behavior consultant, I want to add that if the family decides to adopt a pet, extra care must be taken to ensure that there are no behavioral issues with the pet that could cause an extra level of responsibility for the parents. For any child, being forced to rehome a pet due to behavioral issues after the child becomes attached to the pet is not a desirable situation.

This is why it is important to thoroughly research the types of pets as well as the individual animal to make sure it is suitable for the spectrum of autism the child has. One way to do this is to consult with a qualified dog, parrot or cat behavior consultant (iaabc.org) or an experienced dog trainer if a dog is a consideration.

Therapy animals help brain injured people

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When you mention animal assisted therapy, most people think only of dogs. However, a study conducted by the REHAB Basel, the clinic for neurorehabilitation and paraplegiology, and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute have found that animals such as guinea pigs, miniature pigs, rabbits and sheep improved social interaction, positive feelings and encouraged people to communicate more.

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This is an important study which opens the door for other types of animals to help with severely brain injured people. In some cases smaller animals may be easier to incorporate into therapy sessions making it easier for rehabilitation centers. How wonderful the relationship is between the animal kingdom and humans.