It’s a Dog’s Life

Travis’s school counselor shared information with the school staff about a program called HABIC (Human Animal Bonding in Colorado). She asked the teachers if they had any students that may benefit from the program.

Travis was recommended by his first grade teacher.

HABIC was started in August 1993 by Georgia Granger. Before moving to Colorado she was the founding member of HABIT, (Human Animal Bonding in Tennessee).

Georgia and her husband moved to Fort Collins, CO where they started the first HABIC program at a health care center.

The HABIC site states, “The love of a companion animal is uncomplicated and unconditional. HABIC’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people of all ages through the therapeutic use of companion animals.”

One of HABIC’s goals is to provide animal assisted intervention services, (animal assisted therapy), in partnership with public schools for “at risk” students.

During this time I was approached by an intern that had been working with Travis in the classroom. She asked if she could use Travis as a subject in a study she was conducting and in an article she was writing for a publication called “AWARENESS, Journal of the Colorado Counseling Association”.

Her article is titled, “It’s a Dog’s Life: A Pilot Study Investigating the Effects of the Human-Animal Bond on a Child with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder”. It was published in the Fall 2001 Annual Publication of the Colorado Counseling Association.

If you are interested in reading her article you can find it at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED461818.pdf

Just copy and paste the link. Scroll down to the second article. It starts on page ten. The boy she calls Kevin is actually Travis. She changed his name to protect his identity.

Even if you are not interested in the study itself, it is interesting to skim over and read the parts describing Travis’s behavior. Here are some of the highlights of her article (besides Travis of course):

Some educators and mental health professionals consider the Human-Animal bond a powerful therapeutic tool, especially for the elderly, individuals with disabilities, individuals with mental health concerns and “at risk” children in schools.

Travis had specific goals for his HABIC sessions; to increase the amount of time that he could focus his attention, and to increase compliance in following instructions.

At the beginning of each session Travis would take care of the HABIC dog’s needs. He would fill his water dish and brush him. This was called bonding time. Travis would then practice obedience commands with the dog. The idea was to show Travis that the dog would only obey the commands when he was focused.

Travis needed to make sure the dog was paying attention. Travis would say his name and make sure the dog made eye contact with him before giving the dog a command.

It was reported to us that Travis’s emotional well-being was always intact while working with the dog. Travis always had positive interactions with the dog. The emotional impact of the program was positive. Better self esteem was reported, the program provided Travis an opportunity to feel special, proud and loved.

I think we can all agree that having animals in our lives bring us joy. Our pets show us unconditional love, and are always there to receive a hug after a hard day. We already knew that Travis loved animals. We had a dog at home. Studies show that having an animal can reduce anxiety.

I wanted to share the story of Travis participating in the HABIC program with you for a couple of reasons. First it’s an example of a stone we turned in order to reach our son, and second because spending thirty minutes with the dog was the highlight of Travis’s entire school week.

Knowing that an animal had such a profound effect bringing out the positive in Travis, we tried other animal type opportunities with him. You will get to read about those in future blogs.

“Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to.” - Alfred A. Montapert