Therapy Dogs
The idea of dogs at your doctor's office may seem
strange to you, but more and more practitioners are employing the
healing energy of dogs in their medical practice, to calm patients
and offer reassurance. Patients report feeling less anxious
and stressed when there are dogs in the office.
For some patients, who suffer from something called "white coat
hypertension", a syndrome where a patient's blood pressure measures
consistently higher in a medical setting, having dogs around can
help. Some studies suggest as many as 20% of patients suffer
from this syndrome. I certainly have at least that many
patients who suffer from it. For such patients, it's normal to
re-take blood pressure readings after they've had a chance to sit
and relax for a few minutes. With the dogs in the office, this
second reading is often unnecessary.
When patients come into the office, they're usually coming from
work, or at the very least, they've had to drive in L.A. traffic.
Being greeted by dogs allows them to shift gears, forgetting about
the demands of the road or the paperwork on their desk. It's
an alternative to the traditional waiting room magazine and can even
get them to unhook from cell phones and text messaging.
And the benefits are even greater for "dog people" who are
interested in our girls' stories, their breed and their history.
These patients share stories of their dogs, current or past.
And sometimes, with the kind of work I do in my clinic, this opens a
door that might not otherwise have been opened, to allow healing to
begin, or to start a dialogue.
In Our Office
Our office dogs are Phoenix and Nellie, both
Shiloh Shepherd dogs. You can read more about them and the
breed here: www.ydraigkennels.com
