Therapy Dogs Usage in Wellness Center
Submitted By: Dan Long
Submitted On Date: September 20, 2022 at 10:30 am
Current Status: Denied
This is a New Policy
Description of Change
Policy Statement
Therapy dog(s) will be used in the Wellness Center or a scheduled basis as an augmentation to the current scope of services provided. Any therapy dogs will have at a minimum AKC Canine Good Citizen certification and up to date veterinarian records. Therapy dog presence will be limited in location to the Health Hub on the 1st floor of the Yamasaki building during normal business hours or in outdoor spaces. Therapy dog presence will not overlap with times the Nurse Practitioner has designated office hours to ensure that Nurse services are available to all students. Therapy dog hours will be readily available to ensure that those students that would prefer to not interact with the therapy dogs know when and where they will be on campus. Therapy dog presence will be limited to 2 business days per week at a maximum. Therapy dog interactions will be a combination of open walk-in hours and scheduled appointments. At no point will the Therapy Dogs be unaccompanied or allowed to roam CCS buildings or grounds without a designated handler.
Reason for Policy
The use of therapy dogs is a growing service area for wellness clinics and health care locations. Designated therapy dogs are used as a therapeutic aid in a variety of environments to help with the management of stress and anxiety symptoms among other uses. Therapy dogs usage will be confined to controlled and advertised environments so that the presence of an animal does not infringe on a student’s ability to access other services.