Ellen Neale, an Animal Science senior in the Honors Program, is working with Dr. Jenifer Nadeau to conduct research on the effect of therapy dog use on the involved therapy dogs themselves. The overall value and benefit provided by therapy dogs is widely understood and appreciated, but there is some growing concern in the field that serving as therapy dogs places unnecessary stress on the dogs. Background analysis revealed that the research on this subject is quite limited and has oftentimes led to varying results and conclusions. They hypothesize that therapy dogs are not exposed to unnecessary stress through being involved in therapy, and look forward to providing additional data and analysis to the research in this area.

To conduct the research, the number of stress behaviors visibly displayed by therapy dogs both in a therapy session and in a control period at home will be observed. At the therapy session, investigators will record the number and type of stress behaviors shown by the therapy dogs during the session. The data for the control period will be collected through a video from home that will be recorded by the therapy dog owners which will then be viewed and interpreted by Ellen and Dr. Nadeau. The in-session results will then be compared to the numbers and results from the control period. Through analysis of any differences, Ellen and Dr. Nadeau will then be able to develop conclusions as to whether or not the collected data shows that therapy dogs are exposed to unnecessary stress from therapy work. Throughout this process, Ellen will continue to learn about animal behavior and interaction, specifically about detection of stress behaviors, and will be exposed to the processes of data interpretation, analysis, and scientific writing after the completion of the study.

In the summer months, Ellen interned for the Saco River Wildlife Center. The goal of the organization is to provide rehabilitative care to ill, injured, or orphaned wildlife and to promote compassion and awareness through educational resources and programs. Following her research at UConn and her work at the Saco River Wildlife Center, Ellen hopes to apply her knowledge and skills of animal behavior in a companion animal and/or wildlife setting to promote the wellness of animals. Ellen is incredibly grateful for all of the experiences she has been afforded through the Animal Science program at UConn and for the relationships that she has forged with the faculty members and staff. She is also particularly grateful for the leadership and guidance of Dr. Nadeau throughout this project.