Podcast Special: Therapy dogs in school settings

Teacher Magazine (ACER)

Can therapy dogs decrease anxiety and stress in students, and improve school attendance? These are just some of the questions Monash University academics are trying to answer as they push for more research in this area. In today’s podcast we're joined by Dr Linda Henderson and Dr Christine Grove from the Faculty of Education at Monash University. Both researchers have trained their own therapy dogs – Daymon the black Labrador and Bronson the Labradoodle, who you might hear moving around in the background of this episode. Dr Henderson is a Senior Lecturer and a former teacher, and she raised Daymon from a puppy. He initially worked as a guide dog before retiring and retraining as a therapy dog. Dr Grove is a Lecturer at Monash and also an educational and developmental psychologist. She has been using Bronson in both educational and clinical settings to help children to overcome their fears.