TERAPIA FACILITADA POR CÃES: ESTUDO DE CASO

Abstract

The Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), especially Dog Facilitated Therapy (DFT) or Dog therapy, has become an increasingly common practice in the world and is growing in Brazil in the last ten years. Several professionals are responsible for carrying out this work, involving the areas of humanities, animal science, and social. DFT uses the dog as a communication facilitator between the professional and the patient in order to generate numerous benefits, such as physical fitness improvement and emotional well-being of those individuals who undergo this form of treatment. The aim of this study was to report the activities of a group of professionals working with TFC, ensuring quality of life for sick patients in many different environments. The monitoring of AAT activities took place in the city of Recife (PE), with the Dogs Doctors team. During monitoring the group it was observed the importance of the human-animal relationship as a therapeutic benefit, the necessary requirements for a dog to become a co-therapist, and all the training and behavioral assessment of the dog until it becomes ready to act as a dog therapist.