It is definitely a win-win situation: When troubled teens and shelter dogs come together, both species benefit from the giving and receiving of love and acceptance.
Doctoral candidate Lindsay Ellsworth brought together a group of teens from a drug and alcohol treatment center and dogs from a local shelter every week for one hour. Many of these adolescent boys were also being treated for ADHD, PTSD and depression.
The Positive Effects
The dogs had an uplifting effect on the boys even before they arrived at the treatment center. Ellsworth's hypothesis is that the brain’s natural, feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine is released into the boys’ brains while they anticipate their interaction with the dogs.
The boys’ moods continued to improve while they fed, groomed and played with the dogs. There were also marked improvements in teens’ ability to modify their behavior, demonstrating restraint to work effectively with the animals.
“I was surprised, during the trial period, how calm the boys were around the dogs and at how outbursts and hyperactivity diminished,” said Ellsworth. “It was something you could observe like night and day.”
The boys also showed a significant increase in joviality and attentiveness as well as a decrease in sadness.
“It’s an opportunity for kids in a real chaotic life, making unhealthy choices, to focus in on a specific task with an animal,” says executive director of the youth center Robert Faltermeyer. “It empowers them to make positive changes even on the simplest scale of correcting the animal’s behavior. I think those exposures build some internal capacity for them to say, ‘Hey, I think I’m capable of changing my life.’”
Cost Effective Benefits for People and Animals
Although positive effects on teens from time spent with dogs is not surprising to canine lovers, studies such as Ellsworth’s are necessary to provide impetus for the funding of similar programs elsewhere.
It does not take a genius to imagine the cost effectiveness of Ellsworth’s program considering the high cost of most modern treatment modalities. However, until teen-dog treatment benefits are measurable and verifiable, funding for such programs will be scarce, though benefits are obvious.
This type of interaction can change a dog’s life as well. Programs like this are naturally a boon to the more than 5 million animals that enter shelters in the U.S. each year. It provides a beneficial opportunity for shelter dogs to socialize with people and other dogs outside the kennel environment.
Ellsworth’s program was done through Washington State University and with the support of the Spokane Humane Society and Excelsior Youth Center.
Source: News WSU
