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Kuma, the eight-year-old Field Spaniel, is a certified therapy dog who works alongside her owner, Marleen, who is an occupational therapist. Kuma attends the clinic for two to three hours a week with Marleen, who works in her own business, bringing comfort to patients and helping them feel at ease, thereby providing a positive experience.
Kuma has been in her therapy dog role for four years.
Marleen currently works with two dogs and chooses the one that best suits her clients each day. Kuma’s primary role as a therapy dog is to help clients feel calm and engaged. Kuma provides comfort by approaching clients for a pat or lying down to signal that the environment is safe. Kuma also helps start conversations with clients.
Marleen says research has shown that having therapy dogs in these sorts of environments increases engagement and motivation for someone to come to therapy.
“Just having her there is already amazing, and she does a great job, and her main role is to provide co-regulation in specific sessions.”
“People come when they're really anxious or quite stressed, and Kuma is incredibly calm, which is actually a trait in the Field Spaniel breed standard, which states unusually docile as a trait of the breed.”
“I would say she is pretty bomb proof if someone's really overwhelmed and stressed, Kuma just lies down and it brings a calming effect to the clients and helps regulate their emotions.”
Marleen say because of Kuma’s docile temperament, her clients prefer her the most as she is the calmest out of the two therapy dogs.
Kuma also helps encourage clients to practice their cooking skills as clients make dog cookies for Kuma.
“She's helped people who don’t want to cook for themselves, but will quite happily cook for her. We also go for walks and it's great having Kuma come along as well”, Marleen said.
Most of the clients Kuma and Marleen see live with autism, and they also see people with mental health issues. In addition, Kuma also attends the aged care facility where Marleen works, but her main role is with her occupational therapy clients.
Various therapy dog organisations have intakes a few times a year for people who are interested. People can then attend various venues for an assessment day. At the assessment day, practice scenarios like crowds, people talking loudly, and people wanting to meet your dog may be set up. There are generally also mobility aids in use to see how the dogs will respond.
Dogs will need to have a vet check, have up-to-date vaccinations, and be wormed. Owners may also need to be vaccinated, similar to people who work in hospitals. There is also some obedience involved, like sit, drop, and standing and walking calmly on a lead. Other must-dos involve always having therapy dogs on a lead and may include carrying a water bowl.
Any dog with the right temperament and training can become a therapy dog. Banned dog breeds in Australia and dogs deemed dangerous cannot become therapy dogs.
“The temperament test is done with somebody from the organisation who conducts various exercises to assess the dog’s temperament and response.”
Marleen says that there is currently little regulation in the therapy dog space, and that is something that organisations are working towards and putting out guidelines and a stronger code of conduct.
“There are certification processes, and the organisation I used for Kuma required an obedience assessment for dogs and then a temperament test as well.”
The process for Kumas certification was a little different due to COVID at the time.
“The obedience assessment was put online, and I had to send in videos of Kuma doing particular skills like a down stay, sit, stay, loosely walking, leave it, and practice going through doorways.”
“They have a set of criteria they have to look at, which involves patting the dog, being able to touch their feet and their paws and everything like that.”
As an occupational therapist, having a therapy dog makes the work easier for Marleen and also helps her deal with clients who may be hesitant, as Kuma acts as a great ice breaker.
“Kuma really helps to break down those barriers, allowing my client to focus on something else and give them a break, which involves Kuma doing tricks and also some scent work, and my clients love it.”
“It makes my life easier having her in the room, that’s for sure.”
Field Spaniels were originally bred to go out and retrieve and flush game out in the fields, and Marleen says she was also drawn to the Field Spaniel due to them being a rare breed in Australia, which helps promote the breed.
“I like the Field Spaniel and their temperament, and I was happy with the breeder as she was doing great things with her dogs.”
“I think it's really nice to work with a rare breed and to spread awareness of them because they are at risk, there are so few of them.”, said Marleen.
One of the main reasons for choosing a purebred dog for Marleen was the predictability of size, appearance, traits, and temperament that comes with a purebred dog.
“I like that the Field Spaniel breed was the size I was looking for in a dog, they are not too small and not too big, being able to still fit on a person's lap comfortably and not too small and fragile.”
“Kuma is a social butterfly and loves coming to work because she gets to meet all these people, get some treats, and do some tricks and scent work, all the things that she loves.”
“If Kuma doesn't enjoy something she won’t do it, and when we pull up to the clinic she quite happily pulls me through the door, telling me that she likes being in that environment as well.”
“Getting a puppy from a Dogs Australia breeder that did all the health testing is really important, and knowing what I was getting was really reassuring.”
Dogs Australia is a not-for-profit organisation advocating for the preservation of purebred dogs through ethical breeding.
It champions the highest standard of animal welfare through education and fostering dog-loving communities.
Internationally recognised and established in 1958 as the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC),
the organisation promotes responsible dog ownership; maintains the ORCHID* heritable canine diseases database;
funds research into canine diseases; and supports state and territory-based member bodies.
Dogs Australia promotes breed conformation shows and community sports for dogs that fulfil a breed’s natural instincts.
