From Wagging Tails to Warming Hearts

From a three-legged dog named Bandit, to a beloved Bernese mountain dog named Bentley who greeted visitors at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Muhlenberg, Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN)’s pet therapy dogs bring comfort, joy and healing every day.

Karla Bachl, administrator of colleague and volunteer engagement, has been overseeing LVHN’s pet therapy program for the past 16 years.

“Today we have 49 dogs that volunteer with their handlers across all our facilities,” Bachl says. “Pet therapy benefits people of all ages – it can reduce stress, promote healing and even lower blood pressure. It also provides a comforting source of healing touch for patients, visitors and colleagues in the hospital.”

When a patient is in the hospital for a while, one of the things they miss most is their pet.

“I’ve seen dogs put their paw on the patient’s hand and it brings lots of tears and emotions,” Bachl says. “The handlers are in tune and connected with patients. A visit from a therapy dog lifts spirits like nothing else can.”

Bachl says that many who benefited so much from the program have come back as handlers themselves, including former patients and colleagues who bring in their own therapy dogs.

Beyond patient care, therapy dogs also support colleagues. Colin Brisbois, RN, works in the trauma-neuro intensive care unit (TNICU) and neuroscience ICU at LVHN. As part of a research project for the nurse residency program graduation, Brisbois and his fellow nurses chose to study how dogs might help improve the mental health of nurses.

“Many people on the TNICU have dogs and love to talk about them,” Brisbois says. “We thought having therapy dogs visit the units would be beneficial for the nurses.”

The project studied specifically if the dogs would increase job satisfaction and reduce stress. The answer to both, according to the data, was a resounding YES.

The connection between humans and dogs dates back thousands of years since dogs were first domesticated. Since then, the bonds have continued to grow and evolve.

Research shows that pet therapy can reduce stress, promote healing and lift spirits. LVHN has a robust pet therapy program, bringing comfort and support to patients and colleagues.

Research shows during interactions both dogs and humans can release oxytocin, often called the “love hormone.” Additional research indicates interactions with therapy dogs can help reduce pain, aid in building a strong therapeutic rapport and maybe even shorten the length of hospital stays.

Other fascinating things have been known to happen when people are close to pets – they mirror our emotions, smell our stress and their hearts can beat in sync with their owners’ hearts when they’re close. 

Requests for pet therapy dogs are coming in all the time. They are requested at events, department visits and sometimes even for a specific patient with their physician’s approval. Bachl says they fulfill every request they possibly can.

Dogs and handlers follow many guidelines. Here are a few:

• Dogs work a maximum of two hours
• Handlers are asked to bathe and groom them before their shift
• They practice appropriate infection control procedures between patients
• Anyone who pets the dog is encouraged to practice good hand-hygiene

There are occasionally dogs who can no longer walk for two hours, but who still want to help. When that happens, the dogs can stay in one place and visitors and colleagues are invited to come to them.

There’s no doubt dogs bring immeasurable joy to so many people’s lives. They lift our spirits, encourage us to get more exercise and help us be more social.

In the words of short story writer Thom Jones, “Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them and filling an emptiness we didn’t ever know we had.”