What Makes A Good Therapy Dog? USU Nursing Alum Explores Canine-Assisted Therapy for Service Members

By Vivian Mason

“Nurse, heal thyself.” That was Army Maj. Amanda Canada’s initial impetus for acquiring a dog. Her mother had recently passed away, and the loss felt overwhelming. A few months later, Canada decided to bring Nash, a female Belgian Malinois pup, into her life to help the healing process. Nash proved to be a major benefit to Canada’s mental health, and now she’s working to bring her furry friend to patients in need by developing a canine-assisted therapy program at her current station at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

Canada, a graduate of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program at the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing at USU, says she’s always been interested in canines and how they can help improve the mental and physical health of patients.

“After having had Nash for a while, I began reflecting on the benefits that I had been getting from interacting with my dog,” says Canada. “I also tried to find the best way to train and harness Nash’s desire to be sociable, but in a very controlled manner. This is what led me down the rabbit hole of canine-assisted therapy so that I could incorporate her into my practice.”

Maj. Canada and Nash at a training center in California. (Photo credit: Maj.
Amanda Canada, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Madigan Army Medical Center)

There’s a growing interest these days in the health benefits of dogs. Therapy dogs can do more than fetch, roll over, and stay - they have been proven to provide relief to those in anxiety-provoking situations, bring comfort to those who are grieving or lonely, and offer affection to patients in hospitals, nursing homes, etc.  Canada thought that perhaps her dog, Nash, could become a therapy dog, but needed more information to see if it would be possible. She was ecstatic to find that her professor at USU, Air Force Lt. Col. Regina Owen, program director and chair of the PMHNP program, utilized therapy dogs in a clinical setting when working with trauma patients, and was more than willing to share her practical experience.

“My experience at USU and with USU teachers and mentors,” Canada shares, “has taught me to think outside of the traditional therapy techniques box and investigate other, perhaps nontraditional, therapeutic modalities to best treat my patients. USU has instilled in us the importance of critical thinking and the ability to provide individually tailored care, which may include treatments such as animal-assisted therapy.” 

Canada insists that canine-assisted therapy provides a different method of therapeutic treatment that is currently underutilized.

“You have to jump through hoops to get the animals approved and into the facility. It’s not a modality we covered in class, but it made me think about what these animals do.”

Specifically, she hopes her dog, Nash, can help bring relief to patients in need as part of her plan to bring canine-assisted therapy to her current station.

“At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, I’d like to work with hospital leadership to actually develop a canine-assisted therapy program utilizing my dog,” Canada says. “I’m hoping Lt. Col. Owen can help me gather enough supporting literature behind the efficacy of canine-assisted therapy so that I can get Nash the necessary paperwork and training required for her to participate in this therapy program with some of my patients.”  In a recently released study of the efficacy of the Service Dog Therapy Program (SDTP) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, published online July 30, 2022 in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, USU researchers found that those who participated in the SDTP more often had fewer visits with mental health care providers than those who didn't participate as often. According to study first author  Rebecca N.Schulz, MPH, the “SDTP was designed to teach Military Health System beneficiaries to train service dogs for service members with disabilities, while reaping benefits from working with the dogs themselves.”

Nash at her professional photo shoot. (Photo courtesy of
Maj. Amanda Canada, Joint Base Lewis-McChord,
Madigan Army Medical Center)

It was also a learning curve on Canada’s part to be able to differentiate between an emotional support animal and a service dog. She learned that emotional support animals don’t necessarily have to be dogs. The animal is simply one that provides comfort, support, and a calming presence. Normally, a person has documentation from a licensed therapist or behavioral health professional that the animal is for emotional support. These animals don’t receive any formal training.

Compared to service dogs, the Department of Justice specifies that emotional support animals  “provide comfort just by being with a person. Because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task, they do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act” (ADA).

However, emotional support dogs in therapy settings play a different helping role. They work in clinical settings, are trained to be comfortable in new environments, and can interact with different people. Some mental health challenges and psychiatric disorders are known to respond well to therapy dogs. Patients diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, autism, ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), posttraumatic stress disorder, and Alzheimer's disease can benefit from their interaction with therapy dogs (and other companion animals). 

And as a loyal dog owner, Canada expresses that Nash is well-qualified for the role, noting that “[Nash] has advanced obedience training. She’s such a friendly pup and is quite the social butterfly at 36 months old. Nash loves people and is very well behaved.” 

Canada says Nash has even passed her Canine Good Citizen training, a ten-skill test that teaches good manners to dogs and responsible dog ownership to their owners.

“I try to look at the traits of my dog and determine what she may excel at naturally. Nash is a working dog breed, so she needs a job to do,” says Canada. “I have to figure out how to not only best utilize her innate talents, but also how to keep her happy, engaged, and stimulated. Currently, I’m working with a canine training company on her obedience and socialization. But I work on obedience every day with Nash.”    

To Canada, the socialization component of Nash’s training is extremely important. 

“What I’ve discovered,” Canada says, “is that when I bring her out to meet people and get her desensitized to different stimuli, often people don’t have good dog etiquette. I don’t want her to react to them because sometimes humans aren’t sure of what to do. A dog still has its natural instincts. So, I’m very cautious and slow in making sure that I get Nash socialized, as well as obtain the required hours of socialization that training organizations recommend.” 

Canada envisions using her dog for therapy for patients who may experience symptoms related to anxiety, depression, and/or posttraumatic stress disorder. 

“I visualize them interacting with Nash as an outlet to release some of the anxiety,” she describes. “Or Nash could be used as a distraction so the person can physically be doing one thing with her, but still remain engaged with me. Nash especially likes to lean up against you and give that physical pressure, which can be comforting.” 

Maj. Canada and Nash taking a play time break during an obedience session. (Photo credit: Maj. Amanda Canada, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Madigan Army Medical Center)

Many benefits can result from interacting and/or caring for a dog, including decreased stress, reduced blood pressure and heart rate, elevated mood, raised levels of oxytocin, increased self-esteem and empowerment, improved communication and social skills, reduced loneliness, and motivation to participate fully in therapy.

Canada comments, “The human–animal interaction can give both physical and psychological benefits to the patient. Nash loves being around people and that’s why I hope to be able to bring her into the workplace to provide myriad benefits to patients who can take advantage of what she has to offer.”